The third day: Post what you learned from this WIP. You become a stronger, more rounded writer which each manuscript and we want to know what this particular work taught you.
What did I learn from this version of The Rogue King? *snicker* Everything! How I write my novels now came from writing this. I learnt even more after while doing the third person rewrite. More specifically:
I learnt I can’t write a whole story in first-person. My brain’s just not wired for it. I tried a first-person point of view for the last Knights of Microfiction and it kept popping back to third-person.
Also, I needed to be less telling in my descriptions. And actually have descriptions. Not to mention the internalisations and thoughts that were missing.
And finally, that I’d no clue what I was doing with my punctuations. I honestly believed ?! had a right to be there. >_>
I’ve also gained a deep dislike for the word “was”. In my edits, I try to rid each “was” (and “that”) I come across. I’ll get majorly twitchy when I see them more than once in a paragraph. This has translated into my critiquing (I once read a piece that had “was” eleven times in one paragraph. *twitch*). If I see too many, I may just be forced to bite you.
Aldrea Alien 
Writer; know thyself, lol.
……..dhole
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I was twelve, but that's no excuse. I -have- no excuse for how I used to write other than ignorance and that is not an excuse I'm willing to live with.
I learnt as I went. I let others pick holes in my work. I cried (again, I was young, but they never knew). I eventually saw they were right. I fixed what was wrong and moved on.
I'm still learning and each finished work is in a constant state of flux as, yet again, I find another tiny bump I didn't originally notice in the carpet of my story. It's something I do when I'm bored. Only publication will stop me.
But I will never excuse my bad writing.
Though a small part of me wishes I could keep the odd ?! ^_^
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Lol, you mean this isn't okay?!?! I love your nitty gritty critiquing points that you learned, these are so great! And I try and replace the word was whenever I can. I way overdo *just* and *even* too. Thanks so much for participating with us, it was great to get to know you and your work a little better!!
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I'm laughing at your personal crusade to exterminate 'was.' When I draft, I'm a be was were are is has had have got kind of girl. When I edit, I put on war paint and HUNT THEM DOWN! So yeah, I totally get where you're coming from.
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I'm like you. For one, I'm a recovering thataholic. They must go, and I try to limit wases, too. Sometimes they're unavoidable. I have a crit partner with a vendetta against and.
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I also now take note of overused “that”s, though I actually heard from someone recently that her agent or editor had her put back in 1,000 “that”s she'd removed! So we never want to overcorrect ourselves and take out words that really might be grammatically correct or necessary. I also learnt from my shelved MS that first-person isn't really my thing either. It's kind of a wonder I'm still planning to keep my hiatused alternative history saga in the form of 5 journals over 90 years, instead of making it into another third-person omniscient story.
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Yeah, just and even are others, but I'm not so bad on them.
And hey, these bloghops are always fun. So far, my goal of entering at least one a month is doing alright. ^_^
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I'm not so crazy of the 'be' or the 'is' and 'got'. I don't think they're as prevalent in my stuff. But the has, had, and have are starting to look a little shifty. I try to keep them in line lest I get a swarm of them.
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Against and? Ah, I bet they're long sentences with and joining them or descriptions with one too many words going on.
Those ands need to die.
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Yes, I was dropping 'that' and 'was' all over the place when I first started. Now I look at each one and think: Does it need to be in there? Can I get it to make sense without it? Can the sentence be rewritten to exclude it?
If either of the latter questions can be answered with a yes, then the first is an obvious no.
I try not to slip into this mindset too much while I'm doing the first draft though, otherwise it interrupts my flow.
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I'm also an abuser of 'that' and even though I'm well aware of my misuse I still get my ms's back from my CP with a million red marks telling me to delete 'that' It also took me a long time to show and not tell.
Still can't believe you originally wrote this when you were 12! Insane! Good luck with it and the rewrites if you haven't finished them yet! And thanks for hopping along.
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Those sneaky thats. Got keep an eye on them or they'll get into everything! ^_^
I've rewritten this one a few times: Apart from the major overhaul from 1st to 3rd pov, there were additional scenes and characters, more chapters, and extra plotlines to weave through. Finished the last rewrite sometime last year. Or was it the year before? I forget. It all blurs into little edits now.
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