Rewriting for “Pantsers”
If you write by the seat of your pants instead of carefully outlining, rewriting can be difficult. I’m revising a first draft that I merrily wrote without any restrictions. It was wonderfully freeing, and gave me a full, rich story I might not have gotten from a tidy little outline. However, trying to follow the plot now is like following Billy in a “Family Circus” comic strip.
I have four main characters and alternating points of view (close third person) with all of them. The antagonist is on another continent and doesn’t actually show up for the final confrontation. I separate the characters and have them “scooby-dooing” through most of the book. At one point, I even gave one character the temporary ability to fly in order to get her where I needed her to be!
I am not giving up, for I really feel that there is a good story in this mess. It is definitely encouraging me to have at least some preplanning before starting my next project!
I am reading a great book right now- Wired for Story by Lisa Cron. It talks about the science behind good story telling.
You didn’t give her a power because she needed it, you discovered halfway through the novel that she had a power! 🙂
I am a “pantser” but I only write blog posts so I think I’m OK. I don’t generally re-write my posts. That said, I think it is great that you are tackling this challenge. re-write & edit on!