I Can't See!

[intothewood]

Help.

I’m going over my second book because it needs some fixing, and it’s definitely been awhile since I’ve read it through. But I’m in that state where I can’t really see anything for what it is.

Have you been there? One minute you look at something you’ve written and think ‘hey, that’s pretty good’ and the next minute you’re thinking ‘oh god that’s fucking awful!’ Or you get an obsession with, say, commas, and suddenly every fucking comma looks out of place. You’re reading unnaturally, halted by all the commas and the sentences don’t read like sentences any longer, they’re just a string of words separated by awkward commas!

I really need to do this, but I’m second guessing everything. Everything. The logical answer would be to put it aside, but I don’t wanna. Yes, I’ve turned into a stubborn four year-old who can’t read properly.

Stubborn four-year-old antics aside, have you had this happen and is there something you do to break from it? Because I really want to work on this today.

Comments

[nightsfury]

I'd like to echo what owl said with the addition that if you can find someone else to read it aloud (while you listen) that might be useful, too. Especially for picking up dialogue that might not seem to be working, but you can't quite pin down the issue.

Having someone else read it might also make it easier to judge the flow and pacing, catch awkward or redundant phrasing, etc.

Hope this helps.

[intothewood]

That would be an interesting thing to try, for many reasons. In discussing my writing I feel awkward even hearing the names of my characters spoken by someone. I guess that's what happens when you spend too much time in your own head! So thank you for this intriguing suggestion.

[nightsfury]

You're welcome. It was suggested by the instructor at a writing workshop I took.

[holyschist]

Edited for having skimmed the comments above...

Sometimes I record myself reading to play back, which is sort of the poor writer's version of getting someone else to read it.

It's VERY awkward to do, but quite helpful.

[intothewood]

Haha well I'm used to everything I do as awkward so I probably can stick it. :P