Friday, August 27, 2010

Rewriting

Having gotten that pesky beach house story out of my system, I knuckled down and have made some progress on my rewrite of A9. But it's hard. Really hard. I've pulled the two strands apart and am working solely on the present day story which needs more work than the assignment section. I think I'm writing too much. And I'm not sure any of what I'm adding is helping clarify things. I mean, do I write the whole scene in the restaurant, or just have my narrator tell us that they ate in the restaurant? I know telling is bad, but when the scene does little to advance things, do we need it? I need them to go out, because they need to go back to the house so K can tell M he can't come inside. But do I need to show the part when they're out?

I think that's the hardest thing: showing. How do I show a couple, desperate for love, but totally ill-equipped to deal with the intense complex emotions that are associated with it? There are only so many times they can get close and pull away before it gets repetitive.

But on the positive side, I've found a place and a reason for K's determination to be K and not C. In fact, it's integral to the story now, it's the journey she's making, from the child, C, to the woman, K. But it's not an easy journey. You can't just change your name and hope to be a new person.

I'll keep slogging away at it. Eventually I'll get it right. At least, I hope I will...

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