small words

[olmue]

Have you ever noticed that the smallest things change the whole direction and/or meaning of a book? If you put these sentences in this order, then the overall books says this. But if you flip them, it says that. I'm focusing my MC's goals at the beginning, which means removing a subplot, and as a result I have to redo things like my chapter endings, some transitions, etc. I'm finding I have to really watch how I do it because otherwise I could end up with a very different book than the one I'm planning on.

A while back I was doing a revision with the goal of chopping a lot of words. I found places to do that--but it involved removing some key character information as well. I didn't change my description of the character, but by removing some information that wasn't necessary to this particular story, the reader perception of her changed dramatically. She went from being a bit pitiable to being quite narrow-minded. All because you no longer saw her background. I promise, if you knew the whole story, you'd know she isn't quite as awful as she looks in the book. (And isn't that how things really are? If only you knew the whole story about someone, you'd realize they are maybe not as villainous as they seem.)

Oh, and thanks for the well wishes yesterday. DD1 is home, having a great time feeling perfectly fine. She just isn't allowed back to school until tomorrow. Well, everyone needs a vacation now and then, right? (Hm, did she find some skiving snackboxes somewhere...?)

Comments

[edawn.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear that your daughter is feeling better. My little guy is feeling better, too, but he was taking it slow until this evening. He then decided he needed to go to the store and buy some sprite and some yogurt.

[olmue.livejournal.com]

'Cause he was uh...hungry, right?

[shaelise.livejournal.com]

Good insight, Rose. This is how things really are...sometimes their life wouldn't look so easy either -- I think it goes both ways.
Glad your daughter is doing better. Hope no one else gets it. Is your baby all mended?
Thanks for sharing this. I love posts that make me think about human nature.

[olmue.livejournal.com]

Thanks--everyone else is doing great. Lap Boy has finally figured out how to drink out of a medicine dosing syringe and only has a couple more days of the pink stuff. After that, I'm ready for everyone to be well for a good, long time!