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  1. Frederic Limon

    Frederic Limon New Member

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    Changing Pace

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by Frederic Limon, Sep 11, 2019.

    Wondering what other people's experience may have been like if they've gone through something similar I'm going through.

    Basically, I've been writing a sci-fi novel on and off for several years now. Been pacing it as a thriller. But after a lot of internal digging, and editing, etc. I've come to the realization that I'm not getting what I want out of it by pacing it like a thriller. I'm just not feeling as immersed as I would like it to be. I've re-drafted some chapters now at a longer length and really loving it. But now I feel like the entire idea of the pace and character of the novel is shifting from what I've had in mind for the last few years. In a way, I'm mourning what I've worked on as part of the process to move towards what I know I really want it to be.

    Has anyone else here done this after working on something so long? Good or bad experiences doing it?
     
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  2. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    I've just finished changing a fantasy novella of 59k words into a fantasy novel of 105k words... pace hasn't really changed, there's just more of it now
     
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  3. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    Hi Frederic. Welcome to the forum. (I'm one of the moderators here, as is big soft moose (above.)

    I think your dilemma is probably something most writers experience at some point. It happens when your story outgrows the boundaries you set when you started out. Either the characters become more important than the plot, or the plot takes a turn that removes it from a particular genre's requirements, or simply the target audience changes because your story tone has changed.

    A very good friend of mine here—she's about half my age ...wonderful thing to have ...young friends—is part of my face-to-face writing group here in Scotland. She's in the process of entirely rewriting her first novel.

    She completed the novel several years ago, but was very unsatisfied because the focus of the story had changed during the writing, and a lot of her original concept went by the wayside. She had started out writing a lighthearted, YA supernatural-Romance with an angel/human love pairing, but the story took on a much darker tone than she originally intended. The ending definitely didn't fit into YA at all.

    She is entirely rewriting the story at the moment, even changing big things about her two main characters. She said on the one hand it is hard to know what to keep and what to dump, but she's also aware that the emerging second draft is much much better than the first one. The cutesy romance tone is gone. And the whole story is much darker, more complex and more challenging now. The story problems aren't easily solved, etc. In fact, one of them isn't solveable at all ...which makes for a really interesting situation.

    So yeah ...it can be disconcerting to have to 'start again.' But so worth it, when you get a story that rises above genre and becomes something really unique to you.

    Good luck with the writing, and I look forward to seeing samples of your work, when you're ready and have fulfilled the forum requirements for posting.

    You might want to check out these two links, which should keep you on track.

    New Member Quick Start

    And

    Forum Rules
     
  4. Tralala

    Tralala Active Member

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    Yes. Many times. It is a delusion, to think that decent books get written any other way.

    Even Jane Austen, who (thanks in part to her brother's eulogy) is thought of as an author who envisaged her novels quite completely and executed them painlessly, was actually frequently taking them apart.

    Mansfield Park, for instance, took years to write. There was another long delay before she sent it to her publishers. Everything suggests it was massively rewritten.
     
  5. Frederic Limon

    Frederic Limon New Member

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    Thanks guys, makes me feel better
    And Jannert, that was especially motivating. It's something weird (I guess at first), but I have to mourn the style and feel of the story I had for so long. It's almost like a breakup with the story I thought I was telling, and making space for something new and better
    Will definitely read through those links!
     
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