Tuesday, April 24, 2012

"Knocking on the Sky"

Saturday night, I watched TRON for the first time, and there was this part where the creator of the grid goes off alone, "knocking on the sky and listening for the sound."

This is where I'm at in my revision process right now. I am all over the manuscript, knocking on different aspects of it. I'm reading aloud, making plot notes on post-its, deleting scenes and characters, adding conversations and descriptions, asking characters questions to figure out what motivates them. I'm listening. 

I'm not asking other people for their opinions. I have critiques I've taken into account that are helping me shape this revision, and I'll want more when I'm finished. But at this point, I have to trust that the story and I will come to an understanding. Outside opinion is more of a distraction than help (first drafts are the same way for me). It's coming together. I've taken some false turns that I've had to correct. It's hard to erase those, to move on, but the story is so much stronger than it was a few months ago. 

Do you go through this with your own creative process? 

And if you've seen TRON, what did you think of it? I really liked it. 

23 comments:

  1. Never seen TRON.

    That's a good way of putting it, going off the grid to listen. After I get this last beta critique back for my WIP and make my revisions, I'll be doing that. Reading aloud especially helps, although it makes for a sore throat sometimes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good luck with sorting through your critiques and making your revisions! :)

      Delete
  2. Really didn't care for TRON.

    I find revision to be the best part of writing the story. I really love it.

    I love the speak feature on my Mac that reads the story to me when I've read it so much the words run together.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have a MacBook. Do they have this feature?

      Delete
    2. Yeah, Myrma, I believe all Apple computers can read text. I have a desk top and a MacBook Pro and I have a really old Mac, like ten years old, and even it had the feature. On the MacBook you have to assign two keys to turn it on. Once you've done that, you just highlight text you want read and hit those keys. Really, it's a lovely feature. I choose the male child's voice because it sound less mechanical to me. Besides, my MC is a male teen.

      Delete
    3. Thank you! I'll have to figure it out. Listening to someone else read aloud would be worth the effort.

      Delete
    4. It's easy. Go to System Preference then open Speech (the microphone icon). Check "Speak select text when the key is press" then hit the "Set Key" button. Then you can go back and figure out which voice you like. Then the fun part, so play with it!

      Delete
    5. That WAS easy. And if you speed up the voices a bit, they sound more natural. Thanks so much!

      Delete
  3. Have you written anything before this that is able to be read?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brandon, if you're asking about published work, I've only sold articles to newspapers and children's poetry to Highlights for Children. I don't have any novels that are ready to be published, though I'm hoping to query the one I'm revising later this year.

      Delete
    2. Well hopefully I will read something of yours someday.

      Delete
  4. Ditto Sam, but I'll just add that I think your application of that line from Tron is spot-on. That's exactly what revision is--knocking on the sky and listening for sound.

    Good luck with your revisions, Myrna. As much as I loved STAR SWANS, I think THE BINDER'S WEB is even better. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with this one.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm a huge nerd, so I loved both the original and the new TRON. I love that thought of stepping away and listening to whatever comes up.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yep, this is a great place to be, Myrna. I really had to come to grips at one point in my writing that this was MY story, so while it was important to get critiques, I had to own it. Good job!

    And I haven't seen all of TRON. Just bits and pieces. :)

    Amy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes. Online critiques stress me out, sometimes, because writers will try to apply advice from so many people that a once interesting story becomes boring.

      Delete
  7. I've only seen the original Tron and didn't really care for it, so I don't have any desire to see the new one.

    ReplyDelete
  8. That's an interesting term. I feel like I'm doing this myself when I revise.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yes. It definitely caught my attention. :o)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I haven't seen Tron.

    I think you have to make yourself happy with your manuscript before you can ask others to look at it. Good luck with your revisions. :)

    ReplyDelete