I never knew you could make marshmallows. You can!
And they are fantastic! Springy and light and so very yummy.
(Excuse the poor lighting in the pic. I must have been overly excited by all that marshmallowy goodness.)
Sometimes I think about those marshmallows when it comes to my writing. Not just that I'd like to be eating them (though I would), but that here was something I thought to be impossible. I assumed marshmallows were this mystery food that could only be purchased. I couldn't make them. I was sure they required sophisticated machinery, skills beyond those I possessed.Like the marshmallows, I remember making the decision to rewrite Skinwalkers. Honestly, I didn't think I could do it. I was convinced I would have to cut and paste scenes and fill in the blanks. I didn't think I could start from scratch and write the whole thing over. Doing that seemed impossible. How could I get my mind to forget the original story and start fresh?
At first it was hard. The original scenes were as sticky as the marshmallow goop before you sprinkle on the powdered sugar. But then something happened. A new story started to unfold. A better story. The stakes were higher; the characters more alive. And there were new characters. New subplots. I did it, and it's yummy.
As you can guess, I'm reaching the end of this rewrite. My goal is to have the revision finished by the end of the month. I'm ready for my CP to take a look. I'm dying for some feedback because I'm feeling really good about it, and I want to make it even better. It's not quite there yet, but it will be.
I feel like I took a bag of Jet-Puff Marshmallows and improved on them. I made my story new, better. I achieved the impossible.
How about you? What obstacles have you overcome? What yummy things have you made?
20 thoughts:
Love this post! I'm in the middle of rewriting my novel, and it's been much more challenging than I expected, but so rewarding. Just as you described yours, it seems to be so much better than the first version.
Congrats on being so close to finishing!
Thanks for the great post! Congratulations on Skinwalker. I am a big fan of rewriting. I wrote my story Charm Bracelet and went over it 20 times at least. Time went by and I looked at it again. Boy, was it bad! It took a year, but I rewrote it. It is a yummy story now, or yummier anyway. Now, I'm rewriting my second novel and switching from third to first person. Better still. That's the point, right. Keep trying, keep improving.:) The marshmallows looked awesome!
ugh. the very idea of rewriting something from scratch is terrifying to me. i'm horribly terribly impressed that you did so.
Kudos on you, sistah
I didn't know you could make marshmallows!
My hats off to you for starting OVER. I've done major re-writes, but always with the draft sitting there underneath. I'm excited for you, for the better book you have because you were willing to take on that huge challenge!
I love this post, very inspiring. I'm new to this writing thing, I've always written something but never followed through but in the last year I've been sticking with it, writing every day, and trying to learn as much as possible. But I've been an artist for a while, I started taking art classes about 10years ago and got frustrated when the teacher said "Just pick some color that feels right. . ." I wanted some real direction! So I did everything I could to learn how to paint people realistically, and practiced every day. Now I'm reasonably confident that I can draw a person that looks like a person! Perseverance that's what I learned.
What a fun post!!!! I am with you and thought that marshmallows were just something you purchased!!
Amazing that you were able to start fresh and make an even better and more brilliant story! I am in the beginning stages so I don't have anything to start over, but putting the many ideas on paper is quite the task at times, too much goodness never know where to start!
I love this analogy and I would adore making marshmallows! YUM. I'm in the middle of revisions too and it gets easier and easier as you do it. At first it seemed like this huge mysterious intimidating thing, but it's really not that awful.
Um first, I want the recipe. Those look so yummy.
And I trashed the first 8000 words of my current project and started over. It was written in 3rd person and the plot wasn't working so I started from scratch with the same characters, written in 1st person, with a new plot. It's better now.
And YAY for being almost done with your rewrite! I'm so envious. Must. Finish. First. Draft.
Good for you! That is an accomplishment. I don't know if I could do it. I've thought about starting over because a few new plot twists have come into mind, but my original story and certain things need to remain the same. So, for now, I'm cutting chapters, scenes, paragraphs, etc. I have a ways to go before I'm finished though. Hopefully it will come together and I'll be able to find some Beta's to read it with their thoughts.
Oh- and how does one make marshmellows? All that talk about the yummy things and you never told us?!?
Excellent analogy - and I had NO IDEA you could make homemade marshmallows either!
Congrats on the rewrite! Currently I'm working on my query rewrite. Thankfully, besides an ornery chapter 10, I never had to COMPLETELY rewrite a large portion of my novel. But I get to cut 20,000 words!
My verification word is "wince." How appropriate!
I made homemade cherry pie a few times. YUM! :-)
I didn't know marshmallows could be made either! How cool. Congrats on being almost finished with your rewrite. :-)
Let me know if IE8 fixes things on blogger or not.
Good luck with it!
What an inspiring post! Just what I needed to hear today :P And you made homemade marshmellows?? Too cool! Best of luck with your rewrites!
Wow - I didn't know you could make marshmallows either!
But I *did* know you could rock your work in progress. :)
Wow! I'm absolutely amazed. I've lost two manuscripts because of stupid computer fails, and even then I couldn't get motivated to start over. My hat's off to you, luv. That's amazing. And the marshmallows? OMG, I'm drooling over here.
First of all, you make your own marshmallows? Umm... when can I come for a visit?
I loved this post and the analogy between your writing and your yummy, stringy marshmallows. My writing is a little like hardened chocolate fudge right now--still sweet, but needs some warming up. : )
Abby - Isn't it unbelievable? I never thought it possible, but it is so rewarding!
Roxy - You are the rewriting queen! Great job. I don't know that I could rewrite every story, but this one needed to be told.
Falen - Thank you. It was terrifying to me too. Then I just did it. I should be a Nike commercial. LOL!
Elle - thanks! I never thought of it as such a huge undertaking, but it certainly was.
Crystal - Yes, perseverance is key in all art forms. You paint beautifully! Keep writing. :)
Jen - Keep working. All that goodness will find a home.
Julie - I'm impressed that revision isn't awful for you. It kills me every time I open the document. LOL
Natalie - You can do it! Trashing 8K is nothing to sneeze at. Any cut is hard.
Kelly - I posted the recipe. And I'm sure you'll get your WIP whipped into shape.
Donna - I love it when the word ver is spot on! Wince is right. And 20K is no small cut. Every one hurts.
Jessica - Cherry pie sound fabulous right about now. Yum. And so far, IE8 is doing well. Thank you again.
Nicole - Thank you! Glad the post hit the spot. :)
Robin - You are my most faithful supporter and cheerleader. Thank you!
Carolina - I could send some it you like. ;)
Kimberly - maybe this should be my next prize, a batch of marshmallows. :) I love how you describe your writing. Warm that fudge up!
I love this post, Anissa. What a perfect analogy. See, only a writer would make that connection. :)
What an inspiring story - we all have those huge moments of self doubt but you've conquered it and what an accomplishment! I am hugely happy for you!!! Hope those are celebratory marshmallows!
I look forward to hearing about the next steps in your journey.
My daughter and I made fudge today. Yummy!
What a great analogy! I feel like that sometimes too, like I can't possibly do what someone else has perfected.
Homemade marshmallows sounds delish. I hope your rewriting is equally tasty.
Nice post! I hope everything is going well with your rewrite. :)
YOU MADE MARSHMALLOWS?! Okay, I'm feeling really lame. I don't even like making dinner. Your family is lucky!
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