Tuesday, April 10, 2012

TTYU Retro - Revisions: your story isn't you

I've heard many authors talk about how the characters in their stories seem to do things of their own volition, or about how the story seems to be outside of them rather than something they have created. It's easy to get this sensation when you're in the midst of creating - somewhat harder, I think, to retain it when you go back and start revisions.

In some ways, that sense of the story existing on its own can make us balk at revising. It's outside of us now, it has its own internal form and structure; the characters are who they are, and do what they do. In other ways, it's the sense that the story represents us as authors - that in a way, it is us - that causes us to hesitate.

I think considering the story as existing outside of us is perfectly fine. It may resist revision in some ways, but as long as we can consider the characters, the form and the structure from the outside, revision is possible. It's when we feel that we are the story that the revisions process can really defeat us. Then critique and requests for edits can feel like insults, and restructuring like an assault.

It's not that what we create isn't great. It isn't even that it's not publishable. I've seen whole books and famous movies that made me think, "needed one more rewrite." But though those books have been published and those movies produced, I always think it's a shame that that final revision never happened.

I've tried to train myself to take a particular view of my own work. To me, the story isn't me, and it isn't even what I've written. The story exists somewhere else - a plane of ideas, or some kind of Platonic dimension - where it exists in an ideal state. What I'm trying to do by writing it is capture that perfect spirit, that resonance, and convey it to my readers. Thus, revisions are the means by which I bring the story closer to the ideal. Maybe this is why I enjoy it so much!

Critique shows me how my readers understand what I'm doing; it gives me a sense of the pictures they see, and the resonance and intensity they feel. They aren't seeing the ideal form of the story any more than I am, but we're all trying, looking at it from different angles, and in that process we jointly get insight into what the story could be. Then once I feel I've glimpsed the way to get closer to what I want, I set about making it happen. Sometimes when I realize what the story really requires, and I feel a resonance come into place, it gives me goose bumps.

I'm not saying everyone has to think this way. What I'm trying to do is explain why I find revisions exciting instead of daunting. If what I'm sharing here helps any writer out there to take on the process of revisions with more relish and less sense of personal injury, then I'll be happy.

8 comments:

  1. Your definitely right in a way...I think the first go around its an important feeling to think that you have reached a new, "guided by your characters" plane while writing. I've totally felt that! But when I go back, and look at it again, I have to take a stand point of what will my reader think. And that's when critiques help, like you said!

    ReplyDelete
  2. A good perspective. Me, I think when the characters "take on a life of their own" is when the story has tapped into the subconscious roots instead of just the surface level I consciously see. So that makes it more, not less personal. On the other hand, the point of revision is to make the story approachable to others, to prepare it for sharing, so while I find it frustrating and daunting at times, it's a necessary evil. I really don't want to plug people into my head so they can see the story, which means making it comprehendable from the outside.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting, Margaret. That's not how I visualize the situation, but I can see how you could. Thanks for the comment!

      Delete
  3. I feel the exact same way, yet I'm still a bit daunted because, in my mind, the ideal (which, yes, exists outside of myself somewhere in the aether) will always be better than the reality. One reason for this could be because I see "the story" in more than one medium: live action, music, images... The ideal itself is very multifaceted, so trying to achieve it using only the written word is like trying to play a symphony with only a piano at your fingertips.

    I don't know if this is typical with writers, though I'm thinkin' it comes from having a very holistic approach and a strong need to just "create" things in general...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tiyana, this is interesting. I was much more bound to creating visual images when I first started writing. I'm sure it's not true for everyone, but I ended up becoming more sensitized to the verbal structure of stories as I worked on my craft. I'm not going to claim that I achieve the platonic ideal, but I do have a clear sense when I've raised the level on something. Thanks for your comment!

      Delete
  4. Great article - thank you! I agree with Margaret that in those places where the story sort of writes itself is where the draft is always the best and the place where I, the author, was directing the story are the places I always have to go back and do the most editng because the dialog is stilted, the physical movement is all jumbled (one minute the character is sitting the next she's on the other side of the room standing), that sort of stuff.

    And I will say that I LOVE having a critique group. It's so interesting how people can see a scene or character so differently. I hate critique/edits when I'm drafting (because the story has gone off the rail) because the first draft always feels like so much work to begin with. But I love editing during the 2nd draft and polishing stages, when I'm hanging the meat on the bones of the story. That's when I know it's all coming together.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your comment, Terri! I find that I miss some kinds of things in areas where it's happening on its own, and other kinds of things when it's like pulling teeth. Luckily, in revisions it all tends to iron out! I think critique groups are extremely helpful for helping us improve our craft - and especially for spotting places where there are holes, ambiguities, or missed opportunities in the story.

      Delete