Clarion Write-a-Thon, Week Three: Strike That, Reverse It
photo by nacu on morguefile.com.
[dc]A[/dc]fter overhauling one of my main characters and the better part of two chapters, I shared the changes with Stephanie over dinner.
She was one of my beta readers over the Winter. (visit my Clarion Write-a-Thon Writer’s Page for more information)
“Why did you do that?” she asked, after hearing some of the specific alterations. Her expression alone told me I had made an error.
“I thought it would be funnier,” I confessed, “and would make [the character] more interesting.”
Stephanie shook her head. “It doesn’t make any sense with what happens later. How that tied together [with the ending] was one of my favorite parts about [the character]. Heck, it sets up a second book.”
I tried not to think of the hours I would have to spend fixing the changes, but, I agreed. It does help to bounce ideas/changes off people who are familiar with the original draft. It was not all a waste, though. I was really happy with some of the new dialogue I wrote today, which would not be affected by the impending redo.
Stephanie did agree with most of the other changes, adding that she didn’t even remember some of the original (trivial) details about the character in question. The upside is, I will get to cut a bunch of words, which will make the story faster.
Ah, editing.
Daniel J. Hogan is full of trivial details. Follow him on Twitter, @danieljhogan.
