Monday, February 12, 2007

Masks--Not Zombie, but Scary

On Saturday I got comments on Masks. As always, I'm inspired to write like mad when I get comments. The urge to fix the rough spots and exploit missed opportunities is intense, especially on a draft that's close to good enough to send out. Most of the time a draft like that has gone through one ground-breaking, completely revising edit and then a polishing edit. Not Masks. This is an edit that's tearing the manuscript apart and inserting all new material. The good news is that it should read 'fresh'. Overworking a manuscript beats all the life and vigor from it and you're often left with a zombie-like shadow of the passionate idea that started you writing on it in the first place. The scary news is that since I don't have a complete draft to work with, I'm writing on the fly with this semi-polished draft and I don't know if it's going to take me good places or if I'll end up writing myself into a bad corner.

But I laugh in the face of scary. Ha ha ha!

I just better get it done before the end of the year, or else ...

2 comments:

C. Jane Reid said...

PC, PC!

Just being helpful! Thought I'd throw the occasional taunt at you to help keep you focused!

Kami said...

Thanks! Hee. It's been on my mind a lot lately, because I know we're very likely to replace Gypsy this year, though more likely toward the end of the year rather than the beginning, alas.