It's midnight. And this is the latest I've been up in a long time (excluding last night, thanks to a long drive back from Cincinnati). I made the unfortunate mistake of deciding to finish revising a chapter of "36 Hours" before bed. I wrote 15 pages and saved the document and closed it. But I'm still thinking about it. It's currently at 200 pages. The original book was around 300-350 pages, if I remember correctly; the revised edition--with smaller print and wider margins--will be around 450-500 pages. At first I just wanted to reformat it, but I was so disgusted with the writing that I kept making changes. And then I decided to just rewrite it all. The changes are immense.
First, as mentioned, I've changed the font size and margin width, along with the font type (from Times New Roman to Palatino Linotype).
The perspective, originally 1st-person, is now 3rd person; I did this because I am more comfortable with 3rd person, and 3rd person deals with some of the weak characterization thanks to my poor use of 1st person.
I am entirely rewriting every script of what I have written. Reformatting paragraphs, updating dialogue, focusing more on characterization, strengthening the fluidity of movement, and making basic editorial changes.
I'm adding more scenes. Each chapter of the book represents a single hour in the 36-hour time-line of the story. The entire book is divided into three parts: the first 12 hours, the second 12 hours, the third 12 hours. The first 12 hours, in the original, banked out at around 100 pages. The third 12 hours came to about 35-50 pages. This is because I got lazy and just wanted to finish the story. While I'm not adding much to the first twelve hours (and meager additions to the second twelve hours) (minus flashbacks which will help strengthen character development), I will be adding about fifty or sixty pages to the last third of the book.
I'm adding a parallel story. The original book was told in past tense, and the main storyline (taken from the original) is still in past tense. The parallel story, which is much shorter, inserted between each third of the book, takes place in the present, and will be told in present tense--about fifteen, twenty years after the events of the main story. This will allow me to fill in some missing gaps, clear up some cliff-hangers, add more suspense, and really deal with some of the major plot issues of the original story (such as the rapid expansion of the virus; biologically speaking, it's impossible; but I'm dealing with that in the revision).
Basically, it's going to be a whole new book. I'm honestly ashamed of "36 Hours", the 2004 version. I wrote it when in high school. Now I'm out of college and my writing style has completely changed, reminiscent of Hemingway and McCarthy. Hopefully with this 2010 version, it'll be decent enough for my tastes (though we're all our own worst critics). I want this version to be the one that is remembered, and, unfortunately, the publishing company I use won't discontinue the original because they're making too much profit. Which sucks for me and my reputation (lots of people love "36 Hours," but an equal amount absolutely hate it, and for good reasons).
Anyways. It's ten minutes past midnight.
I'm going to try and get some sleep.
And not think about things.
First, as mentioned, I've changed the font size and margin width, along with the font type (from Times New Roman to Palatino Linotype).
The perspective, originally 1st-person, is now 3rd person; I did this because I am more comfortable with 3rd person, and 3rd person deals with some of the weak characterization thanks to my poor use of 1st person.
I am entirely rewriting every script of what I have written. Reformatting paragraphs, updating dialogue, focusing more on characterization, strengthening the fluidity of movement, and making basic editorial changes.
I'm adding more scenes. Each chapter of the book represents a single hour in the 36-hour time-line of the story. The entire book is divided into three parts: the first 12 hours, the second 12 hours, the third 12 hours. The first 12 hours, in the original, banked out at around 100 pages. The third 12 hours came to about 35-50 pages. This is because I got lazy and just wanted to finish the story. While I'm not adding much to the first twelve hours (and meager additions to the second twelve hours) (minus flashbacks which will help strengthen character development), I will be adding about fifty or sixty pages to the last third of the book.
I'm adding a parallel story. The original book was told in past tense, and the main storyline (taken from the original) is still in past tense. The parallel story, which is much shorter, inserted between each third of the book, takes place in the present, and will be told in present tense--about fifteen, twenty years after the events of the main story. This will allow me to fill in some missing gaps, clear up some cliff-hangers, add more suspense, and really deal with some of the major plot issues of the original story (such as the rapid expansion of the virus; biologically speaking, it's impossible; but I'm dealing with that in the revision).
Basically, it's going to be a whole new book. I'm honestly ashamed of "36 Hours", the 2004 version. I wrote it when in high school. Now I'm out of college and my writing style has completely changed, reminiscent of Hemingway and McCarthy. Hopefully with this 2010 version, it'll be decent enough for my tastes (though we're all our own worst critics). I want this version to be the one that is remembered, and, unfortunately, the publishing company I use won't discontinue the original because they're making too much profit. Which sucks for me and my reputation (lots of people love "36 Hours," but an equal amount absolutely hate it, and for good reasons).
Anyways. It's ten minutes past midnight.
I'm going to try and get some sleep.
And not think about things.
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