Fine Tuning the Masterpiece

Have you ever written a masterpiece, forgotten about it for a few days, and come back to find it littered with discordant phrases or scenes? We’ve all had that experience. And when faced with our own less-than-stellar work, sometimes we’re tempted to throw it all away and start over, or worse, give up.

Let me tell you a story.

Recently I sat down at my piano after several weeks away. My fingers danced across the keys. I felt my shoulders relax and the tension of the day bleed away. But very soon I noticed a problem. Low D wasn’t working. No matter how hard or soft I pressed, no matter how I concentrated and bit my lip, no music came from Low D.

What could I do?

I could go ahead and play a symphony without Low D. I might pretend I didn’t notice or didn’t mind, like I wasn’t cringing every time the note didn’t play. I could improvise by adding in the even Lower D. That might make up for it. Sort of.

But after a few tries, I was ready to pull my hair out. 

I could quit playing piano. People quit things all the time. They change their life direction. Reprioritize. And piano is hard work. There’s lots of practice to achieve any sort of mastery. And while there are rewards, there are also problems, like notes that don’t work. It wouldn’t be a big deal for me to give it up, would it?

The thing is, I love playing piano. I love the way it feels to have my fingers move as if by magic while beautiful music fills the room. I love how the songs I play elicit emotion in other people. It can comfort them, stir their spirits, or make them think.

Sounds a lot like writing, doesn’t it? Back to the broken piano...

Another option would be to open it up and try to figure out what’s going wrong. This is usually my first approach. Poke around, find what’s broken, and try to fix it. Sometimes I take the piano apart, piece by piece. Not an easy task and not for the fainthearted. Sometimes I even manage to solve the problem on my own.

But often, I need outside help, a piano tuner, who can spot problems I overlook and who knows how to make the piano sing.

Writing is a lot like that, too. When we come back to a project and find it in need of repair, there are vital steps to take to refine our story and make it sing.

Take some time away from your draft.  

Taking a break from what you’re writing and viewing it with fresh eyes is often an illuminating experience. You will see your work in new ways. You will spot areas that need a little polish or maybe a heavy rewrite. Don’t be afraid of this. The purpose of early drafts is to get the words on the page. Then you make them pretty.

Put on your editing hat

Do overall story editing first – plot, character, pacing, etc. There’s no point in refining sentences to perfection when you might end up throwing them out later to adjust for larger, overarching issues.

After you’re comfortable with your large-scale changes, then focus on perfecting imagery and sentence structure.

Don’t be afraid to share

One of the best ways to see if your story is working is to share it with friends, or better yet, a critique group. Put on your thick skin and be prepared for questions suggestions. If you get some, that’s a great thing. No one bothers making suggestions if the work is a disaster. Ask people what they liked and what they didn’t. This can help your story development as well as your writing overall.

Hire help

Even the best stories receive professional editing. A good editor has a pulse on the market and can help position your book to excel. They can help your story hit the emotional and plot points you’re shooting for and identify areas where you need to put in a little extra work.

Best of luck as you polish your masterpiece! 

As for me, I’ll be calling a piano tuner this afternoon.

How to Jump Back into Writing after Time Away

If you love writing, but also have a life, you know your best-laid plans of creating wonderful work can sometimes go awry. Life steps in, takes over, and sometimes derails our writing. That’s not always a bad thing. It’s just a fact. We all know how it happens…

Over Christmas break, I chose to focus my free time on my kiddos, letting my writing projects simmer on the back burner. That’s two weeks down. No big deal. Breaks are good.

But the transition back to school and real life left me scrambling to catch up on work, bills, and appointments. Scribbled a little. But not much. One more week down.

Starting to feel nervous...

I would’ve really focused the next week and had a writing frenzy, but I already had other plans...a trip to Mexico with my husband. 

Feeling really nervous. 

Surely I could fit in some time to write.

And I did, honest. But the beaches were calling. It was sub-zero back home, and I must confess, I accomplished very little on my laptop. I’d just jump right in back at home.

Except...life happened. 

It snowed and iced, my kids crashed cars, our house froze, pipes broke, and school was canceled for almost a week! How much actual writing did I accomplish? You got it, zilch.

Yup, I'm horrified, too. In fact, at this point, I’m starting to feel demoralized. Am I really a writer if I never write? To make matters worse, after a month away from my projects, I’m losing momentum (ya think?). I might even lose faith in myself. 

And the laptop in my backpack starts to feel really, really heavy. I start leaving it at home instead of toting it everywhere like an extra body part just in case I get a chance to write. 

I tell myself I should be social, which is probably true. But there’s lots of things I should improve on (laundry, cooking healthy meals, etc, etc) and none of them should keep me from writing. All these things are writing excuses…a phenomenon so well known among authors that there’s even a podcast called Writing Excuses, which, incidentally, is excellent.

But no more excuses. It’s time to write. And if you’re reading this, I’m guessing I’m not the only one who’s prepping to take the plunge. So how do we do it? How do we get back on track after a longer-than expected hiatus from writing?

Here’s some of my tried-and-true techniques:

Spend more time thinking about your projects.

When I have down time driving, jogging, or waiting in line, I start brainstorming plot lines or characters, blog topics, or even marketing techniques. This helps prime my mind for when I’m ready to actually sit down and work.

Finesse your website or social media platform.

I know this sounds like a time waster when you really need to be writing, but sometimes a few minutes spent in this ancillary writing realm can remind you why you write and that you actually really enjoy it. This is a good way to ease yourself back in.

Reread stories, essays or posts you’ve written.

This primes the mental pump, showing you that, yes, you can produce quality work. You’ve done it before and you can do it again.

Even better, read over sections of your work-in-progress.

This will refresh your memory. Why were you writing this piece? What is so compelling about it that you’d want to dedicate your precious time to it? This can also get you in the zone, spark new ideas, and light a fire under your imagination. And believe me, once that fire is lit, there’s no lame excuses that will quench it. Go laundry? It will wait. Got sore fingers? You can handle the pain. Puking? Well, that one may be a real excuse. Maybe.

Best strategy of all? Just. Do. It.

Get out your laptop or notebook or clay tablets and start writing. The more you write, the more you will want to and voila! You’re a writer again. Happy writing!

What are some of your favorite writing excuses and how do you jump back into writing after time away?