Okay, so I have these three chapters that have just been sketched in as place markers. I'm going in now to fill them in, but I'm considering (but not decided) a major change to the book, a main character getting banished to back story. Do I fill in the chapters with new change in mind, or with same character and make the changes in revision?
What would you do?
Here's what I'm going to do...postpone killing the character until I have the full draft done.
Oh boy. Can't wait to see what kind of mess I have when I'm finished.
About Me
- katrina
- Originally from Vermont, I now live in North Carolina. My work can be found in recent issues of REAL: Regarding Arts and Letters, The Jabberwock Review, The Emerson Review, Storyglossia, The MacGuffin, Confrontation, Passages North, SmokeLong Quarterly, elimae, wigleaf, and Pank, among others, and forthcoming from Gargoyle #57 and REAL: Regarding Arts and Letters. One of my stories has been translated into Farsi by Asadollah Amraee, and many others by Jalil Jafari, two of which have been published in the Iranian journal, Golestaneh Magazine. For two years I worked as an assistant editor for Narrative Magazine. Currently, I serve as a mentor for Dzanc's Creative Writing Sessions. I'm working on two novels and a short story collection. In May, I was awarded the Carol Houck Smith Contributor Scholarship for the 2011 Bread Loaf Writers' Conference.
5 comments:
That's a tough one, Kat.
I don't think there's a right and wrong way to handle this, but here's what I'd do ...
Start by making notes about the possible change. I'd ask myself every question about could happen as a result and how it would impact the story and the other characters. This exercise would help me determine for sure if I want to make that change.
Then I'd go in and write it that way.
Hope I'm making sense ...
xo
That's a great idea! Thanks, Ellen. I appreciate the advice.
I'd probably end up doing a little bit of both and make the first draft a dreadful hodge-podge. But that's just my usual process. :)
But it seems to work for you, Mary, because the end result is stunning!
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