L.W. Flouisa's picture
L.W. Flouisa from Tennessee is reading More Murakami November 5, 2015 - 12:27am

Do you ever lose old drafts of something, and then suddenly remember the core of the plot. And then basically rewrite it based on what you are able to remember?

I recently did this with an epic poem that started out as a game project, that has now been adapted into a four thousand word JRPG script (first draft).

I learned something from looking at old work: a lot of my old work was a lot campier in overload of different genre elements clashing.

For example Midieival Fantasy and Futuristic Dystopian science fiction.

An example of where this clashes I'm finding is: In pages 2-3 the MC's girlfriend is beheaded for religious heresy. Then about half through the script (two thousand word mark), I'm already talking about abandoned cell phone towers producing radioactive warmth.

Gordon Highland's picture
Gordon Highland from Kansas City is reading Secondhand Souls by Christopher Moore November 5, 2015 - 10:48am

I've heard a few screenwriters say they use a similar technique when adapting novels. They'll read the source material a couple of times, then toss it in a drawer and just write the scenes that stuck from memory, because that was obviously the good stuff. The same argument could be made for rewriting one's own work.

L.W. Flouisa's picture
L.W. Flouisa from Tennessee is reading More Murakami November 5, 2015 - 2:17pm

I guess I managed to stick with what worked. I ended up keeping the whole general feel of O Raphael, while completely reworking and fleshing out characters. Then adding know ones.

Still unsure how the critics will take all the beheading references, though I'm not exactly going for family entertainment.