Happy Monday! So I’ll start with a question: how often do you step away from your work for a while — a few days, a week, maybe more — to gain perspective? After read-through upon read-through of the same work, looking for areas to tighten, words to remove, sections to amp up tension, and just generally filtering every word through the fine-toothed comb in your head, eventually your writing will sound stale to you, no matter how fabulous it is.
The last few months took me away (far, far away, in another galaxy…) from my writing. I hadn’t looked at my current WIP, other than to glance longingly at the large stack of paper waiting for a read through, pretty much since October. So I loaded it up on my Kindle and started to reread. And I found that I was pleasantly surprised.
Not just because it was actually in pretty good shape, but that keeping the goal of “just read” in mind makes it really easy to separate the ‘solid, good’ parts from the “needs tightening/work” parts. With such a separation between revisions and this read-through, it was like reading something new. As I read through the pages, I notice where my mind wanders. I notice where I stumble over something. And I also notice where the pages just click on by. At times, I force myself not to focus on the details – such as small word changes or other. But while I reacquaint myself with my story, I’m reading for pacing and for general story. I don’t think I’d be able to stay in “reader” mode if not for the lengthy separation from it.
Now, as we all know, months of separation from a book aren’t usually possible…and probably not even advisable. But some separation is. No matter how you work – if you’re a one-draft through, then revisions, or a revise as you write, when you’ve written The End, it’s time to put it away for a bit. A couple of days, a weekend, a week if you can manage it. Go on to other things. Start on your next story. Then go back and read your WIP like a reader would — straight through, looking only to be hooked by the story and carried to the end. I also think it’s important to read it on paper or on your e-reader. Don’t do this step on the computer, or you’ll have a harder time pulling yourself out of editor mode.
So how many of you do the ‘reader mode” read through already? What do you do to keep yourself out of editor mode?
3 comments
Good topic this morning for me. I haven’t thought about putting my wip on an e-reader. But then I didn’t have one until Christmas. And, I have one ready after I get this JaNo done. Again a good topic.
I haven’t let my stories sit in the past, but the more projects I work on, the more overlap I get and I’m now able to set them aside for a while before doing a final read. I completely agree with how nice it is to just be a reader of your own work for once. Although, like Lavada, I never thought to load it on my reader. Thanks for the tip, Jeannie!
Great topic, Jeanie. This is something I really should do. When I was struggling through the paranormal romance that became the paranormal crime novel, I sent it to my Kindle and read through. I was about 3/4 way through when I suddenly figured out why the book wasn’t working as a romance and what I needed to do to fix it.
The current project hadn’t been looked at in probably six months or so while I dealt with rewrites, writing two novellas, and finishing my NaNo project. I read the first 15K words on Sunday–on the computer but I made myself *just* read it. Like you, I discovered it’s not as rough as I anticipated and has some good bones to build from.
So…I need to remember two things–take a break before reading, and read the darn thing out loud! Thanks for the reminder. 😀