Redefining Evil, Writing Journey

Skeleton

So, because the upbeat song on the radio (Hot Chelle Rae “It’s All Right”) doesn’t fit what I’m trying to write, but I don’t know what of my own music I feel like playing, I decided I would take a brief intermission and muse in a journal entry.

Last week I received my first of many critiques/full edits to RE from a new editor in training over at PYP. It was rough for me at first. I don’t have much energy to spare once I get home from work (8 hours a day with elementary school kids, running around getting them to recess and lunch and so on). Plus, the critique was very raw and honest (classic C style, as far as I can see, although it wasn’t even her) and I was a little bit at a loss. Once more, just like when the things with RE and publication got underway, I was in the thick of a totally different project (Apprentice of Light) and I didn’t want to give RE attention. It was especially hard because the biggest problems observed by this wonderful editor had to do with aspects of RE that I simply hadn’t changed since its days as a manga four years ago. In other words, they were silly things once it came to my attention that they were there. It was frustrating and it laid out a lot of things that I decided needed dealing with in the manuscript.

Well, yesterday evening I suddenly got the urge to get into these revisions. Naturally, I came up with a few significant things I wanted to alter in the manuscript, but I think once these issues are smoothed out, most of the other problems this editor had with the story will also be eliminated. The most significant things are elements straight from the manga.

It made me a little sad. It’s like saying goodbye to my childhood. I told my dad that the skeleton of RE is very much the same as that which I started off with. But more and more of the scenes from the manga are being weeded out of the novel. It makes sense — I’m removing my tenth grade vision of the story and replacing it with my twenty-year-old’s eyes. All the better for the story. But it’s another door closing for me. Granted, it’s opening two or three windows.

1 thought on “Skeleton”

  1. Do you know what? I was cleaning out my inbox a couple weeks ago and I came across a message you sent senior year, to me and Emilie and Taylor and maybe someone else, with the novel draft of RE that you wanted us to read. It was so cool, because it’s like a moment in history. Of course I don’t think I read it until college, but you know. I kept the message. I guess what I’m trying to say is that you’ll always have every step of this process in your documents and memories, and the changes you make only make the journey of telling this story more interesting.

Leave a Reply to Margaret Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *