So, I'm finally getting everything back in order after The Month of Suck that took me away from writing/blogging/email and so on.
I've spent my first few days as a free woman brainstorming over my revisions of MISFITS as well as what's to come of MISFITS 2. Every time I think about the fact that I'm writing a sequel to an ms that isn't repped yet, I shake my head. But it's more like therapy for me right now than anything else, so I'm going with it. Yesterday I spent most of the evening with headphones on listening to Pandora with a notebook nearby and just letting ideas come to me. That helped a lot but it actually got me thinking about a few other things.
First, music helps me a lot with ideas. I can't write with music on though. I prefer an empty room with complete silence when I'm writing but there is a way that I think music is going to help me this time. The one thing I've been struggling with while writing and revising MISFITS is really setting the mood for scenes and adding that extra oomph of emotion with my characters. Last night, while I was listening to music, I added little notes about what songs I felt matched the emotion I wanted in certain scenes and I actually think that may help! I know a lot of writers do playlists, so I guess this is my spin on that. I'm really excited to start working on this tonight.
I also realized that every time I read this ms, I get distracted a lot in the beginning, but always, always read the last half in one sitting. I'm taking this as a sign that I need to make some changes to the first half. I'm toying around with re-writing it, (at least the first chapter) just to see what I end up with, so we'll see how that turns out as well.
I'm really excited about this book. I hate saying that because it makes me nervous, but I just do. Hopefully someone ::cough:: agents ::cough:: will be just as excited as I am. :)
So, does music help you too? Or are you the silent type?
-Brandy
As I read this, I felt like you were describing my own writing process. I use music to set the scene, or the feel of a scene, beforehand, but when it comes down to write time, I need silence. No TV, no radio, just me and the screen, and the Muse whispering in my ear. That's why I have to keep it so quiet...so I can hear Her.
ReplyDeleteI had a similar problem when I was working on The Demon's Apprentice. All of my revisioons in the first half were big. In the second half, nothing but minor changes. I finally had to tear down the first part of the book and rebuild it from scratch. It was a painful process, but it was worth it.
Hey Ben! It is painful to tear a WIP apart like that but it's SO worth it when you feel good about the changes. I finally reworked the first chapter to a place where I feel really good about it. Almost there!
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