{"id":380,"date":"2014-04-21T15:33:20","date_gmt":"2014-04-21T20:33:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ellismorning.com\/blog\/?p=380"},"modified":"2014-04-21T15:34:54","modified_gmt":"2014-04-21T20:34:54","slug":"what-do-you-want-use-motivation-to-anchor-your-rewrites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ellismorning.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/what-do-you-want-use-motivation-to-anchor-your-rewrites\/","title":{"rendered":"“WHAT do you WANT?” Use Motivation To Anchor Your Rewrites"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"elaine_pitt_socks\"<\/a>Pictured: my job as a business analyst.<\/em><\/small><\/p>\n

I’ve learned editing is a cycle of dashed hopes.\u00a0 “This next chapter won’t need much work at all- hooray!”\u00a0 Then I reread it, and uh-oh!\u00a0 Spider-sense tingling.\u00a0 A character acted dumb for the sake of plot, or something I thought would be good feels awkward.<\/p>\n

I always trust my niggling bad feelings.\u00a0 Time to reassess and rewrite.\u00a0 Again.<\/em><\/p>\n

Reluctance and dread soon pale against an escalating panic.\u00a0 What do I change?\u00a0 How?\u00a0 Is anything salvageable?\u00a0 Ugh, I’m so confused.\u00a0 What needs to happen again?\u00a0 Oh FSM, I’m gonna unravel the entire damn plot-<\/em><\/p>\n

Stop!\u00a0 Deep breath.\u00a0 Start with one thing: What do the characters in this scene want <\/em>at this point in the story?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don’t always have a clear picture here, especially when I’m rereading words I put down months ago.\u00a0 Good computer programmers intersperse comments amid lines of code to explain what they’re supposed to do- a guide to the programmer’s thought process.\u00a0 As you draft, you may also want to keep track of character wants in a similar way, either within comments or a separate document.\u00a0 These wants can help explain why a character says or does something at a certain time, if you no longer recall the significance.\u00a0 These aren’t set in stone- they’re allowed to change as rewrites happen- but they’re a good starting point for understanding your initial intentions for the scene.<\/p>\n

Too late- you’re editing now, and didn’t track this stuff earlier?\u00a0 Yeah, me either.\u00a0 When I have to piece things together after the fact, I find physically writing down my notes helps organize my brain better, and calm down that panicky inner voice proclaiming the entire manuscript a failure.\u00a0 I just list out characters in the scene, and the wants\/goals that are pertinent to them at that moment.\u00a0 If I’m feeling meta, I work down to the emotions that drive each want.\u00a0 After all, what you want is never a thing.<\/a><\/p>\n

That’s a good starting point.\u00a0 It can- it must<\/em>– get more complicated from there.\u00a0 Just because a character wants something doesn’t mean he’ll get it (obviously, stringing them along is what keeps the plot moving forward).\u00a0 It also doesn’t mean he understands his own desires, or that he’ll always choose the most rational path to his desired outcome.\u00a0 Gennaro (the lawyer in Jurassic Park<\/em>) wants to avoid being T-Rex chow, but panic drives him to the fated toilet seat.\u00a0 Scarlett O’Hara wants love, but she’s so hung up on Ashley Wilkes that she spurns Rhett Butler- until the very moment he decides he’s had enough of her shit.<\/p>\n

\"rhett_scarlett\"<\/a>Is spurning Clark Gable a crime? It should be.<\/em><\/small><\/p>\n

Track all the things complicating your characters’ wants: environment, altered emotional states, other characters, etc.\u00a0 Then figure out how the characters respond to the obstacles before them.\u00a0 This becomes the playbook for your scene.\u00a0 It’s where all the drama comes from!<\/p>\n

If you’re having trouble with this, try doing it with a movie or book you know really well, like I did above with two of my favorites.\u00a0 Get as detailed with your analysis as possible, then turn that awesome analytical mind loose on your own work.<\/p>\n

Of course, all this soul-searching might have an unexpected effect.\u00a0 If you’re really struggling to identify the above for a certain scene, maybe you don’t need to rewrite it at all.\u00a0 Maybe you just need to remove the scene!<\/p>\n

Scene rewrites can be tricky.\u00a0 What methods do you rely on to focus yourself?\u00a0 Let me know in the comments!<\/strong><\/p>\n


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