Writing with a Critic's Eyes (Rewriting)
You may not like what you're about to read: sometimes a writer has to scrap everything and start over. Hopefully that's not the case, but it happens to me all the time - thankfully at the beginning of a story. Honestly, starting a tale is sometimes the hardest part of writing. I usually know where I want a story to go, but I have to get the ball rolling before I can get there.I have developed an outline process that works for me and can be revised as I work my way through a novel, but the beginning still take a while for me. Ultimately, I need to decide whether the story is going to come from a first- or third-person point of view, whether it is told in the past or present tense, and who the characters are going to be. The combinations for crafting a tale with all of these options are numerous, and I may go through several attempt before settling on one that flows best for the particular mood I am setting.
Again, the computer helps with all of this. I can change the tense of a verb by simply double-clicking on it and overtyping the correct replacement. I can drag and drop entire paragraphs and chapters to rearrange them in seconds. I can insert graphics whenever I choose.
Rewriting just takes such a long time; I think this may intimidate some authors or scare younger children, but it should never take the richness from the process.
Again, the computer helps with all of this. I can change the tense of a verb by simply double-clicking on it and overtyping the correct replacement. I can drag and drop entire paragraphs and chapters to rearrange them in seconds. I can insert graphics whenever I choose.
Rewriting just takes such a long time; I think this may intimidate some authors or scare younger children, but it should never take the richness from the process.