There comes a point in some of my books -- the ones I keep rewriting -- where I can no longer get a 'sense' of the story. I can't see the whole. I'm reduced to paragraphs at best, sentences and phrases and words. I have to assume these small discrete changes are improving the book, but I can't be sure.
In other words, my objectivity (if I ever possessed such a thing) goes from the general to the discrete.
I've really been feeling that about NEARLY HUMAN for the last few weeks. I'm copyediting now, after changing it from 1st person to 3rd person. And my estimation of the writing goes up and down, depending on my mood, the context (what I've read recently) and so on.
At this point, all I can do is try to make each word count, and hope that the original story is still there. Which points to how important the original story is -- because eventually I can't really see the story anymore. Can't feel it.
I don't know if other writer's have this happen. It's almost as if, the more I try to improve the story, the less I like it. I have to remember that the end reader is probably having the opposite experience. That the earlier efforts, which I enjoy writing, are probably lacking in detail and context, that it only in rewriting again and again that I bring those early heartfelt moments to life.
A big part of taking on the writing life again, is finding ways to forestall that moment of losing the sense of story for as long as possible. Get the characters and story in place -- feel it as strongly as possible -- BEFORE I start extensive rewriting. Then trust that the original story and characters are strong enough to withstand the constant whittling down, and beefing up. Hold onto the freshness for as long as possible.
As I keep mentioning, I think a step I must start taking is thinking out the premises and ramifications of the story early on, so that I don't get surprised later and have to change everything.
My new vampire story, for instance, I can already tell that I'm going to have to change some marvelous phrasing in the first couple of pages because they contradict what I'm trying to do. So I make the adjustments now, so I have to less changing in the future.
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Working as both a writer and a graphic designer/video editor I've always found that there comes a point in editing where we have to just accept it as good enough or we will drive ourselves insane and potentially damage the quality of what is already there. I also find there is never too many times one can ask for another set of eyes to look over the work and give advice. Good luck to you in finding the balance.
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