In my last post I mentioned reworking characters and even plots when it’s needed. You might be sitting there thinking oh my God I’ve put countless and possibly even painstaking hours creating my book/story thus far. I’ve been there, done that and can honestly say, sometimes revision is key to making your story the best it’s ever going to be. Some things can be reworked so easily. Maybe you worded something one way and at a later time you looked back on it and said to yourself, this doesn’t make sense now, or I could word that so much better. I have. In proofing and editing my novel, I spent many hours reworking a lot of it to finally make the novel what I felt it should be. Why did I rework it? Was it not good enough? In some small ways it needed to be made better yes. We all grow as we age and we learn better methods as writers. I found out after many times of re-reading my novel that there were things I looked at naively or things I simply was naive about when the book was originally written out from my initial ideas. So for my book, no it wasn’t good enough yet. I also decided before publication of “A Killer’s Saga,” that it was going to become erotic fiction. With that being said, that meant reworking love scenes and even adding some. Spicing some scenes up and even adding some new ones. And I can honestly say it was more than worth it to go back and revise, add on and better my work.
Ok so with all that decided did i rework characters or plots? Actually yes, to both. Jordan became a little more adventurous sexually. She opened herself up to being more wild and carefree. Why did I change her this way and how did I do it? Why was easy, on a whim I got the idea that she would live a little wild with Alex and do things she never thought she would. Nothing major, just having sex in a public place, and allowing her relationship with Alex to take front importance on rare occasion, even coming before her career to a point. I felt it was important to make someone become more important to Jordan seeing as being a detective had become “workaholic” serious to her. I felt there was nothing wrong with showing even this all too serious and business like gal could throw back and be a fun sensitive, and warm lover and friend. So while I didn’t fully rework Jordan, I made a small change that I felt made her more human and even more likable.
I’ve found as I grow as a writer so are my characters and the world they live in. Especially because A Killer’s Saga is the first in a series. My husband has become a great help with proofing, editing and even character growth. He inspired changes that will take place with Josh. While I haven’t begun to rework Josh, again it’s nothing I need to fret over. I made a decision concerning him and all I need to do is implement it.
Reworking Plots
As I mentioned above, I also reworked a plot. It was due to my husband’s help that I realized I had been too repetitious with my serial killer and her pattern of where to go when she wished to lure Jordan in. This meant a somewhat serious rewrite. I had to rework the full end to the book. Some elements could stay in place, while the repeating needed to go. What can I say? I was about 19 when I came up with the idea for the series and spent many sleepless nights penning (yes paper and pen back then) all the ideas and storyline I could before I lost ideas. Just like I’m sure a lot of other writers do, I get attached to my stories and characters. So I wasn’t looking forward to a rewrite (one I felt was a major rewrite.) But it HAD to be done. I’m stubborn. No way I wanted to rework it. Not because I didn’t want to make it better. But because the thought of reworking it made my brain hurt. I could have left the piece alone, could have left it repetitive and still published it just like that. (seeing as I self published.) Yet I knew in my heart I couldn’t leave it that way. I had worked on this novel for ten years if not longer. I knew also the novel may take harsh criticism with the original ending.
How did I rework it? How did I get it finished even though my brain said “this is a pain and too much work,”? I forced myself. Yup forced. I went over what could stay about the chapter needing reworked, and what needed to go. That was the simple part. Then there was coming up with a whole new last climatic scene. I wholeheartedly advise letting someone read your work as well as even help you brainstorm. Yes this is your baby, yes you created it from ground up. But you will be amazed how well another person’s input can work in a positive way. It was in brainstorming the new plot with my hubby that I had found the new ending. It wasn’t as hard as I had convinced my brain it was gonna be. I simply had to find a setting and scene that worked with what foundation had been laid. It may have been a major rewrite because location of the scene needed changing and organization of the scene needed reworked. The actual end wasn’t changed in the sense that the key elements were still there. It was a take-down of the our bad guy (girl in this case) scene. Most of the rework really was the locale. The only major change to the end was in the sense our killer didn’t use her calling cards to lure Jordan in for a chase scene. It turned more classic.
Does Jordan bring the killer to justice? Did my rewrite work out for the best? You tell me. Feel free to check out “A Killer’s Saga.” Link below.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/389973
writing tidbits 