I wrote the title of this blog and immediately thought, that should be 'Sup Sundays...you know, like Whassup? Because really, Sunday Summations? I'm bored just looking at it! :P
Maybe next week, I'll change it up a little...
I have four days left until deadline for this first round of revisions. It's funny because it has involved a lot of rewriting. You know how you can sit and write a story, a novel, and force your way through pages and pages of new ideas? I mean, it's not always easy. It can be. When I get on a roll, I can sit and write two, three, even four scenes in one sitting, but eventually, I stop. Maybe I hit a snag in the plot or I decide to change directions a little. When I'm finished with the story, I'm usually so relieved!!
New words in a revision? Not the same feeling at all. There's a practical approach to new writing during a revision. There's a better sense of what needs to happen, how it's going to happen, and making the words take me there. I think that's why I like the revisions better! Don't get me wrong, penning a new story is, and always will be, exhilarating. But I like the editing part, too.
The story I'm working on is set in a small[ish] town in California. Part of the reason I love the revisions is because I hadn't realized how much my hero and heroine were apart. Now I get to write all these new scenes, fun little stories that show how they fall in love. A date at the winter carnival. Dinner with the family. Etc. It's a little embarrassing, actually. True...my story before fell victim to a very basic mistake--falling in love out of the blue. Or so it might seem to people who don't know the characters as well as I do.
It's good to have those things pointed out to me. Believe me, the next manuscript won't be quite as failing. But, I'm sure there will be something else to mess with...and fix. Always something to learn. Here's an excerpt from the WIP, Letters From Home.
***
Maria smiled. “So, what’s going on with Zack?”
“Not Zack. I’m
convincing Lena to go meet her secret admirer,” Catalina
answered.
Her sisters chatted
back and forth about the attributes of the dwindling single population in Red
Bluff. But one thought that had been niggling at the back of Lena's mind came to
fruition.
She took a deep breath. “What if it’s Zack?”
“What?” Cat broke
off what she was saying and turned wide eyes to Lena.
“That would be
convenient, yes?” Maria kept her eyes closed as she spoke. “I wouldn’t care who
it is. It’s romantic. Nothing romantic ever happens around here.”
“That’s not true!”
Catalina sat up in protest. “You went out with Mario last month and he brought
you a rose.”
Lena perked up at
that news. “Mario?”
“Yeah, that wasn’t
going to work. Mario? And Maria?” Maria cringed.
“You didn’t want
it to work out.” Catalina pouted.
“Shut up, Cat.”
Maria toed off her shoes and curled into one of the throw pillows. “You should
both know that I’m giving up dating. My New Year resolution is to not
get involved with anyone this year.”
Catalina laughed.
“Come on. It won’t last!”
But there was hurt
in Maria’s eyes. Something had happened that she wasn’t talking about and Lena
wished she hadn’t missed so much while she was away. “Good for you, Maria. There is nothing wrong
with that.”
Maria roused,
slowly opening her eyes and getting up. “Thanks, Lena.”
Maria reached over to ruffle Lena’s hair and give her a
hug. “You know, how could it be Zack? He only came home in June. You’ve been getting
letters since January.”
Lena
sighed. “There is that.”
"Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, Lena. Then the mystery will be over. " Cat also got up to leave. "Don't worry about it. You'll do what's right...you always have."
