Thursday, 22 May 2003

Wrote last night until late--too late to want to write a journal entry about it. Wrote again this evening. The rewrite I'm working on comes in at 5000 words now, about 700 more than the first draft.

I'd been struggling to figure out how to address the more vague concerns of the critiquers--the aforementioned suggestion to up the "tension and thematic richness" and a couple of others. Then, I figured out how to do exactly that! At least, I think I did.

The core story is really an interior one--the hero needs to change, and he does. But the superficial trappings are of those of an exterior story. What I did was pump up that story, in a way that made the hero both take action to further his aims and take some risks. Hopefully, this elucidates his character, makes him more sympathetic and more interesting, and maybe leaves the reader just a bit conflicted, because of what the hero has actually done.

I know I've broken a couple of things--mentioned stuff that isn't revealed until later in the story. I'll need to go over it carefully and clean that up. The explicit stuff can move to where the other key information is revealed, leaving just oblique references. I'll do that tomorrow.

It's really been fun to do this rewrite. It's the first time in a long time that I've done one that involved medium-sized changes. Lately it's been either just tweaks around the edges, or else completely redrafting the story. This one, with lots of tweaks, but also this new scene of 500-plus words, has been very satisfying. I've improved the story a lot without having to start over again almost from scratch.

Ran yesterday, lifted this morning, ran again after work this evening. I seem to be able to run 1.5 miles every day without problem, but when I try to run 2.5 miles my knees and ankles are sore for four days. I'll give in to that fact for a bit, I guess, and stick with the 1.5 mile runs for a while longer.