the blanket problem
Dec. 29th, 2013 04:52 pmtl;dr: I hate revising because my brain is terrified I'll screw up something that's currently not-terrible.
So I have this story. It's okay, people seem to like it, but it needs more. So I'm adding in a scene or two and filling in some backstory.
I can't shake the sense that every change I make is, instead of improving things, ruining whatever it was that made the story good to start with.
I complained about it on twitter, and talked it over with a couple of people, and suddenly that looked really familiar.
Imagine it's the dead of winter, and you've woken up in the middle of the night. You're buried under blankets and you're mostly warm enough. Only mostly, though. You've started to get a little chilly.
There's a thermostat on the wall. You can get up and turn the heat up a couple of degrees, and then you'll be fine.
Trouble is, you have to get up. Get out from under the blankets, into the cold air, where you'll be genuinely cold instead of just a bit chilly.
Instead I have a bad habit of staying buried under the blankets and convincing myself that I'm not really that cold. And compared to how I'd be while I'm out, it's true! It just misses the point that I'd be completely comfortable pretty soon after, for some small effort and discomfort now.
Same thing. The story as it is works, sort of. Why mess with it? Why risk making it worse?
Answer: Because it doesn't work, because there is no 'sort of works' any more than 'sort of comfortable.' Because it's worth making the story better, and if that makes it worse to start with then I can correct that when I hear about it.
So I have this story. It's okay, people seem to like it, but it needs more. So I'm adding in a scene or two and filling in some backstory.
I can't shake the sense that every change I make is, instead of improving things, ruining whatever it was that made the story good to start with.
I complained about it on twitter, and talked it over with a couple of people, and suddenly that looked really familiar.
Imagine it's the dead of winter, and you've woken up in the middle of the night. You're buried under blankets and you're mostly warm enough. Only mostly, though. You've started to get a little chilly.
There's a thermostat on the wall. You can get up and turn the heat up a couple of degrees, and then you'll be fine.
Trouble is, you have to get up. Get out from under the blankets, into the cold air, where you'll be genuinely cold instead of just a bit chilly.
Instead I have a bad habit of staying buried under the blankets and convincing myself that I'm not really that cold. And compared to how I'd be while I'm out, it's true! It just misses the point that I'd be completely comfortable pretty soon after, for some small effort and discomfort now.
Same thing. The story as it is works, sort of. Why mess with it? Why risk making it worse?
Answer: Because it doesn't work, because there is no 'sort of works' any more than 'sort of comfortable.' Because it's worth making the story better, and if that makes it worse to start with then I can correct that when I hear about it.