We have author Nicole Flockton sharing with us and there's a giveaway of her Rescuing Dawn.
There will be a kindle copy giveaway of RESCUING DAWN to one commenter!
For some revisions are as bad as receiving
a rejection. You receive that letter or email from your editor and they want
you to cut that scene that you absolutely adore. It’s the best crafted scene
ever and your editor says, it’s not needed, please delete.
Nicole on the web:
The “R” Word - Revisions
Fortunately I’ve not come across that in my
revisions from my editors. But I know I’m going to have to deal with that. I
have to be honest and say all of my revisions so far have been fairly painless.
Maybe it’s the way I look at edits/revisions. To me the editors advice is
invaluable it’s going to make my book that much better than it already was.
I’ve learned to disassociate myself with my
work once I’ve sent it off to the editor. They’ve accepted it and now they’re
going to enhance it. Sometimes it still hurts when I have to delete a line or
snippet of a scene that I think rocks but on the next read through I kind of
forget where it even fitted in.
A great thing about deleting scenes is that
you can use them on your website as “deleted scenes” and you can tease your
readers with it too.
So while edits/revisions may be hard to
take when you first receive them, in the long run those same changes are going
to make your manuscript sparkle.
I feel the same way about revisions! usually at first I feel like I will miss the scene, but later I don't miss it. :) I love the idea of using the deleted scenes as teasers! Thanks for sharing. :)
ReplyDelete~Jess
Exactly Jess, we feel a moment of despair and then we add something even better!
DeleteYep using those delete scenes can be good as teasers or alternatively they could fit in with another book you're writing. :)
Deleting favourite bits is hard! I like the idea of keeping them for extras on the blog though - that'll take out some of the sting! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Jemi! It sure does and if it's really good, as I said above you can always recycle it in another book - you never know it might work better there than the other book.
DeleteI have deleted scenes based on beta reader feedback. If I agree with it, it doesn't bother me. I'm all for making my book stronger. :)
ReplyDeleteLike your attitude Stina and that's the way I look at it too. If it makes the pacing better I'm all for it.
DeleteWay more than once. It doesn't bother me. I love my editors!
ReplyDeleteHi, Nas :)
Hi Carol! Yep I love my editors to, I know there insight is only going to improve my book.
DeleteI've had to delete more than I want to think about! Whole characters, too, snipping them out from the whole book. I just keep a file with them all though--and the experience is never "wasted."
ReplyDeleteHi Meradeth, yep yep, I like how you keep them in a separate file. And you are so right - nothing is ever wasted.
DeleteVery true! I always need to sleep on my editorial letter (well, not literally on it) in order to realize my editor is 100% correct. ;)
ReplyDeleteLOL Kelly yep the best thing is always to take a day before you 'really' look at them. I always find when I get my edits I'll go through and accept all the grammar changes, commas etc.
DeleteThen print out the pages where the changes are needed then look at them the next day. Fresh eyes and all.
I'd love to read a deleted scenes scene on authors websites Nicole, I think it's a fab idea. I do that with DVD's, I always watch the delted scenes, most I can see why and sometimes I wish it had made it into the movie :)
ReplyDeleteOh me too Tash I like looking at the deleted scenes. I also agree that sometimes I wish they made it in the movie as they could add another layer to the movie.
DeleteI've deleted quite a few scenes when they didn't really add to the novel. But you're right. You can still use them in other ways. There's no such thing as wasted writing. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Cherie! It's good that you can see that the scenes don't work and that you can wield that delete button with authority! LOL And yep nothing is ever wasted.
DeleteI love the idea of putting the deleted scenes on a website. What a clever idea. :)
ReplyDeleteHey Sharon :) Its like our very own extra DVD you can get when you buy movies or TV shows :)
DeleteI've never had that experience, but I'm sure it's heartbreaking to delete a scene you adore!
ReplyDeleteI think the most I did was change up a scene not take anything out. I've been asked to add a couple of scenes in.
DeleteI've often had to cut considerable amounts from scenes, but if a scene is crucial to story development, it has to stay.
ReplyDeleteYes, but I'm okay with it. I figure I can use it in a future project.
ReplyDelete