Earlier this week, my husband and I
celebrated our seven-year wedding anniversary. I can still remember the special
details of that day – the look on my husband’s face when we saw each other for
the first time, my dress, our first dance, the cake (I love cake with all of my
heart - almost as much as I love my husband).
The thing I was most excited about
was walking down the aisle. I had dreamed of that moment for years and I knew
exactly the music I wanted – Canon in D. I love how it starts out softly, but
by the end it’s practically soaring.
When the big day arrived, I was so
excited and nervous. I spent hours getting ready, making sure every single curl
stayed right where it was supposed to, my tiara was on straight, and my
something old, new, borrowed and blue were in place. Finally, it was time to
start the ceremony. I stood arm-in-arm with my dad outside of the sanctuary,
anxiously waiting for the moment we could start walking. After what felt like forever,
the ushers opened the doors. The music swelled as we started our walk. At the
end of the aisle was my husband-to-be, looking just as excited as I felt. I
sailed down the aisle with my dad, blinking back tears and smiling as he escorted me to
the love of my life. It was perfect.
A few months later, my husband and
I decided to watch our wedding video. I couldn’t wait to hear how the music
sounded. But something wasn’t right. In my short walk down the aisle there were
tempo changes, missed notes, and one very awkward three-second pause.
“What’s wrong with the video?” I
exclaimed. “That’s not what it sounded like on our wedding day.”
My husband looked at me like I was
nuts. “That’s exactly what it sounded
like. It was terrible.”
He was right. It was terrible. But
I’d been so excited, my mind made it sound how I wanted it to.
I have a tendency to fall into this
trap when I’m writing. I’ll get so caught up in a scene that I don’t take that
step back to remind myself that the reader is not in my head and I have to
paint him/her a clear picture. If I don’t, I risk jarring him/her with missed
notes and tempo changes. I’ve imagined a whole world filled with characters,
but I can’t put everything about them in my story. If I did, my characters
would never be able to get anything done. But what does get into the story has to be consistent.
I struggle with this problem even
more after I start revising – did I leave that earlier part in that affects this later part? Or did I take it out? How can
this character jump from a castle window to the ground below when earlier I had
him swimming across a moat to escape?! Why did this character’s name switch
spellings after chapter 3?!
I’ve noticed that like the
situation with my wedding video, these little issues seem to pop when I’ve spent
time away from my book. When that happens, it usually doesn’t take too much effort
to fix them.
It also helps to have critique
buddies that pay very close attention to the details!
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