I've had re-writer's block.

I've had several people tell me -- Writing is Rewriting.

O.K.  Whatever.

Two things are for sure.

1.) that rewriting definitely makes the books better.

2.) that rewriting is hard.  I get some satisfaction for finding the right word, the right phrasing.  But mostly it seems like work. 

I just can't seem to motivate myself systematically.  I look at the manuscript and it seems so big, that the idea of starting on page one and slogging through to the end seems like pure drudgery.

So Linda says to me, "Does that mean you find your story boring?"

"No.  I'm trying to keep it from becoming so -- "

I've been blocked on re-writing for about four days now.

So yesterday, I think I came up with two tricks that work.

1.) rewrite chapters at random, instead of tackling the whole monolithic edifice.

2.) remember that if I can just spend five minutes on something, chances are that I'll continue doing it.

 In the scheme of things, doing a chapter a day or two chapters a day isn't going to take all that long; and I just need to keep reminding myself  how much better the writing gets when the work is put in.

So I tried my new strategies yesterday, and they seemed to be effective.  The following was how I went through the process:



One thing I'm trying to preserve is my "reading" freshness of the book.  Going to the same page and rewriting again and again is O.K.  But reading it over and over, isn't.

Doesn't make much sense, I know.

I was talking to Linda this morning, and I said,  "You hate it when I change things so much."

"No, I don't mind when you change things, I just hate when you leave branches hanging out there without lopping them off."

That completely crystallized where I am in the process.  The going through and removing all the inconsistencies absolutely bores the hell out of me -- but I know it needs to be done.

I've decided on a new tactic.

I don't know if it will work.

I'm going to take a piece of paper and cut it up into 39 pieces for the 39 chapters.  Put them all in a jar and mix them up.  Then reach in and pick a chapter at random and work on that chapter.  When I'm done, reach in for the next chapter.

When I've done all 39 chapters, THEN give myself a chance to read it all the way through without interruptions and see how it reads.

I have about 20 working days left in this month, so if I do two chapters per day, I'll get a rewrite under my belt in about one month.  Or if I need to keep my freshness up, I can do one chapter per day, and it will take a couple months -- which really isn't all that long.

So, in this rewriting I'm going to try to:

1.)  Look for inconsistencies.

2.) Make sure the tone fits its place in the book.  Look for ways to ramp up the tension from the previous chapter.

3.) Look for characterizations -- looks and mannerisms and phrasing.  Visualize each character.  (Use real life people I know?)

4.) Look to use active language.

5.) Look to add the telling details wherever possible.

6.) Look for more artistic ways of saying things.  Instead of "the light came through the window" say "the crisp morning light slanted through the window" something like that.
 I just made that up out of nothing, but you get what I mean... It could just as easily been, "the soft morning glow suffused the room" or "the crisp light slanted like a knife through the dirty panes" or whatever.  That's the artistic choice.

7.) Description:  sight, sound, touch, smell.

Anyway, that's the checklist I'm starting with...


 I put the 39 numbers on folded paper in a jar and pulled.....#25.

So I'm off to see what chapter 25 is...

It's noon.



O.K.  That was cool.  It took two and a half hours to run through the first time, with a half hour of breaks.

I'm going to go through the chapter a second time.


Spent another hour and a half.  4 hours in total.  The increase for the whole chapter was over 1000 words!  Wow.  Extend that over 39 chapters, and the book gets bigger fast.

I'm thinking I may try another chapter tonight, now that I've gotten a sense of it.  But I want to be sure I'm refreshed, first.


Gave myself a couple hours off, then pulled a new number.  #13.

Difficult chapter.  The writing was all wrong -- passive and retro.  Tried to activate it, move stuff around, cut some things.  Works better probably.

Going to give it another pass.

I'm thinking of snoggling some beer tonight.  See how that affects the rewriting process.


Worked another hour and a half.  I think the chapter is much improved.

I do believe my little trick of working on chapters on a lottery basis is going to work.

 It has to be done.