In my last revision I had worked hard on devleoping a complex character - the Mad Hatter. In the new revision he is not seen until Chapter 20, and then it's not even from his POV. It's so hard to develop a character from the opposite POV. How can I let the reader into his head, provide the reader with his motivation, how do I explain that some of his outbursts are caused by the little imp? As I lay in bed last night trying to get to sleep my mind drifted over my conundrum. Combined with the emotional bog I was in I thought of the possibility of creating a parallel story taken entirely from the Hatter's perspective.
It could be done. In fact I still have all the chapters that I cut from this draft. The idea is intriguing and I want to jump on the story. Just another of the multitude that have been flying through my head. Not wanting to forget any of my ideas, I open up new files and jot down the basic ideas. As new ideas for the story come to mind I jot them down in the file. But I have been trying to stay focused on polishing RABBIT SLAYER. My hopes is that once I get a fairly decent novel finished I won't be spending nearly as much time with the other books.
But editing and writing are two entirely different mindsets. The more I edit the more I understand this. Writing this blog has helped curb my desire to be creative. However, if I don't get this finished soon I think I'll go out of my mind!
I agree, editing and writing are totally different. Sometimes my mind wanders between the two:) Plus the hard work and learning curve now should pay off with the next book, like they say "the more you write the better you become/understand"...or something like that.
ReplyDeletep.s I gave you an award over on my blog:)