Hate Mail to Chapter 2

Dear Chapter 2,

I have lived with you for a couple of months now. You have haunted my dreams (nightmares, really) and kept me up at night. I basically HATE You!

I think it was somewhere around the writing of Chapter 15 that I started to realize you may not “fit.” But I kept writing… I continued to force myself to ignore your presence until I typed “The End” at the completion of my first draft. I told myself that I would take care of you then.

But by Chapter 20, I knew I couldn’t do it. You have now been rewritten 3 times… and I still cannot stand you!

What is your problem???

It’s as if you don’t even know what story you’re in! There’s that chick who is obviously not gonna show up ANYWHERE else in the entire novel. And the conversation at the beginning is pretty much pointless.

So WHY do you exist?

Yes, we could argue that I am the one who wrote you into existence. However, after reading you again today I find that very hard to believe. I mean, seriously… I’m no Hemingway, but I’m definitely not that bad.

© Copyright Richard Croft and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

And so, with this letter I bid you a very happy farewell. I’m going to summon my inner cyberman and delete you now.

Thanks for your understanding,

Jess

3 thoughts on “Hate Mail to Chapter 2”

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wallacecass says:

September 17, 2015 at 9:48 pm

I definitely agree with you on this subject. I have a whole section in Parallax that’s good, but if it were removed wouldn’t alter the story very much. Ask yourself these two questions before you do the Big Snippety Snip:

1) Does it advance the Plot?
2) Does it add insight into the character or characters?

If the answer to either question is No, then drop the axe. If Yes, then you might consider grabbing your creative power tools and do a little alteration. Best wishes and if I can help, please don’t hesitate to ask. 🙂

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1. jessmcombs says:
  
  September 17, 2015 at 10:25 pm
  
  Thanks! Those are the two questions I kept asking myself and the answer to both was no. I tried too make it work, but just couldn’t fix it. The more I tried, the more I realized it was never going to work. I do like the character so I might use get in something else.
  
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  1. wallacecass says:
    
    September 17, 2015 at 10:30 pm
    
    You could always spin the character off into their own story too. That way you can still use the material yet keep the current story intact. 🙂
    
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