Is it inevitable?
Why does it happen?

I left the WIP for ten days and am now looking at it again prior to subbing. Some of it's fine and lively and I feel happy with it. None of it feels absolutely brilliant but I am sick to the back teeth of it, so am trying not to meddle for the sake of it, but....
...some of it absolutely stinks. With an editor's hat on I'm thinking how can someone capable of writing chapter 9 have written chapter 9 quite so appallingly badly. It's facetious and one dimensional and badly researched.

Certain sections need clear rewrites, things I hadn't researched until I knew what research would be relevant, so I can see how to approach them, but I'm mystified by the great swathes of rubbish. Once they're gone the book will be 40k, and it wasn;t that long to start off with.

Do others find that some chapters sing and others look like they were written by Barbara Cartland's poodles whilst under the influence of swine flu? I'm hacked off with myself that I could have written anything that lame and kept it going for so many thousands of words, when other bits, written at the same time, or earlier, or later, worked reasonably well.

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That makes no sense. Meant: ...capable of writing chapter 9 have gone on to write chapter 10 so appallingly badly.

Do others find that some chapters sing and others look like they were written by Barbara Cartland's poodles whilst under the influence of swine flu?

Yes. Only I'm not telling which chapters! I quite often change my mind, once I've had some time away from it, though.

I do think, though, that some things you might need to do in a novel - a given combination of plot, voice and p-o-v, for example - mean you have to write something which, of itself, doesn't sing. That's less likely to happen in a story, because you can always write a story from somewhere else, if you see what I mean, whereas a novel locks you into all sorts of decisions, and the jigsaw pieces will only fit together in a limited number of ways. You can find yourself with a built-in problem.

There's a scene in ASA which I think reads like is a good and successful passage from the kind of novel I profoundly hope I don't write. But there was no other way to write it, and it wasn't a scene I could leave out. I just hope that it's far enough into the novel that most readers haven't got their chilly critical caps on. But I don't read it at festivals etc., because on its own, well...

Emma

I agree. You can't really have any grotty bits in a story but if most of your novel is brilliant then you ought to be able to get away with a few bits that are pants. Cherys, I think you're probably just working yourself into a stew and it's nowhere near as bad as you think. I don't believe you know how to write pants, frankly.

Wot Jem says. Try and stick it in a drawer for a couple of days and then have another look. If you still hate it then you will need to do something about it, but you may not hate it when you are less panicked about possibly having written rubbish.

Do others find that some chapters sing and others look like they were written by Barbara Cartland's poodles whilst under the influence of swine flu?

yes yes yes yes yes god yes.

I do think, though, that some things you might need to do in a novel - a given combination of plot, voice and p-o-v, for example - mean you have to write something which, of itself, doesn't sing.

- that's reassuring.

and, again, yes.

Jem, thank you but I wish.

Emma, I agree. And yet... I spot nuts and bolts A-B scenes in other novels (especially in crime fiction where there are scenes that you just cannot leave out) but they are at least that. Good, solid, no nonsense A-B scenes. What I wonder is how on earth some of the scenes I wrote, which are intrinsic, got to be so bad. Who is responsible? I wouldn't put writing that bad at the bottom of the cat litter tray.

Popsicle & Saturday - good to know I'm not alone.

It's just that when what you're after is Harlen Coben's plotting verve and Kate Atkinson's gorgeous brain...Ah, s'pose it's bound to fall short.

Cherys - I know exactly how you feel! I've been editing novel 2 and have been swinging from 'this scene is quite funny' to 'this scene is utter dross' and then feeling like the entire novel is shit b/c the dross scene drags the whole thing down (but I can't think of an alternative way of getting to the next quite important, potentially funny, scene).

When I was writing novel 1 - "Heaven Can Wait" - there was one scene that, although it seemed to flow quite well, I was convinced everyone would think was utterly unbelievable and preposterous and my editor would ask me to rewrite it. But no one's said a negative word about it!

I think the problem is that we have an image in our heads of how the book should IDEALLY be and if the reality doesn't live up to that ideal we feel like we've done a terrible job. We're our harshest critics.

I don't think any novel can be perfect, and I've certainly read my fair share where I've thought 'did they really need this section?' (or in JKR's case, did they really need the middle?). However, it is worth asking yourslf what the point of the scene is, and whether the reader would notice there was a chunk missing if you simply deleted it.


- NaomiM

Hi cherys, are you talking about stuff you've reworked a lot already?

Susannah, I reckon you are in hyper-critical mood because you're about to sub. I know I can read the same passage in different mental states and have completely polarised views of how they're written.
(Weirdly, this discussion is very pertinent to my post-to-be on Strictly on 16th, called 'Present Imperfect'.)
There's something about the pre-sub stage that causes the Inner Editor to go crazy. Bet you'll look at it again in a few days and think - hey, not so bad after all.
Susiex

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*only in this case, I'd be right to think it's rubbish - 'they're written'???

Is it inevitable? Why does it happen?

As an author who's recently been told that the first third of his latest novel is not quite up to scratch with the last two thirds, I've given this some thought. The feeling is that I settled into the story proper by page 180 and that in earlier chapters, a couple of the characters seem unsure of their roles. Also that the prose is slightly overdone, as though shouting for attention early on, when it needs dialling down to match what comes later.

I'm not sure that this is inevitable, but for my money, I think it's a symptom of uncertainty in the author, combined with writing all out, A-Z. When I first sat down to rewrite the book, I was overwhelmed by the undertaking and didn't feel sure that I could even do it, and I think that shows on the page. Later on, when the wheels were turning at full speed, the confidence shone through. I guess if the patchiness is sporadic throughout a book, it may be a symptom of the writer having on and off days. But as has been mentioned, our perceptions also have on and off days, when what is actually really good seems bad and vice versa. It's a tricky business this. I agree a step back is often helpful.

JB

I'd suggest getting someone to read one of the passages you're not sure of and getting a fresh opinion on it; see if it tallies with what your gut is telling you, or if your gut is plain wrong.

Naomi, is it snotty to say my gut is rarely wrong? I'm an editor at heart, not a creator, so when my Ed-head says it sucks, it sucks.

Waxy - you nailed it. That's exactly what it is, it's a wriggling around trying to squeeze my way into the story, like clothes that don't quite fit. It is uncertainty showing on the page. And hideous overwriting in places (thanks for that timely thread EmmaD) despite it being a pretty short book which still lacks some essential scenes.

Rod, this is third draft now. I know it needs a fourth. What I'm wondering is, once the work is done, will it even be a book I'd want my name on, or should I ditch it and move onto the next project which keeps twinkling at me, only to come unstuck at round three on that one too?
I've learned a vast amount from this book. It has been enormously useful to do, but I'm not sure it will ever be sellable.

Sorry, thinking aloud here. Guess if I can clearly see how to improve it, I should, even if just as a learning exercise.

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Susie - I'm looking forward to reading your Strictly post tomorrow.

I agree, Waxy's spot on that often the creaky clunky bits are the product of your own uncertainty: you're not sure what the scene's trying to do, or it's trying to do something which the book needs for one reason - as I suggested above - but is rejecting for others. I know that if I can't make a scene work, and I try it upside down and inside out and from every conceivable point of view and in every conceivable tense, and it still won't work, then it's because it shouldn't be there.

But SusieAngela's point is worth considering in the sense that pre-sub nerves do turn your geiger-counter up so high that a slight blip can make it scream red alert. It's a bit like a minor spot, which you ignore easily enough, until it's time to get ready for the party...

Emma

Rod, this is third draft now. I know it needs a fourth. What I'm wondering is, once the work is done, will it even be a book I'd want my name on, or should I ditch it and move onto the next project which keeps twinkling at me, only to come unstuck at round three on that one too? I've learned a vast amount from this book. It has been enormously useful to do, but I'm not sure it will ever be sellable.

S, I don't have any solutions, but I can strongly relate to this. It's one of the reasons I was massively blocked all summer. Unable to submit the last one and unable to improve it and unable to slip it under the bed and get on with the shiny new story. I could have written the whole of your quoted post, above. So, all I can offer is tea, and the assurance that you will know what to do in the end.