There is but one story I have ever finished, and looking back on it, I always think about how much it rambles (ah! The curse of loving your characters FAR too much! No, really. It's not good.) and how the twists, perhaps good for me at the time I wrote it (I started it about.....4-5 years ago O_O wow.) don't have the impact they should. However when I try to rewrite it (for I love the idea) I always cling to the original like...a limpet.

Does anyone else find they have this problem? God help me if I ever send my work to a publisher and they want some rewrites done XD

I've started redrawing my characters, and getting interested in changing bits round...but will I ever do it? Good question.

Yes, its true. I get attached to characters, to passages, to settings etc. I think its pretty much to be expected. I mean these things are our creations. I sometimes wonder if I get attached to these things like people are attached to their children or grandchildren and expect other people to love them as much as I do and become afraid that they will be doing the literary equivilent of, "Oh god here come the baby pictures."

Yeah I know what you mean. You could just talk for hours about your character, the you realise that the person your talking to probably isn't that bothered.

I'm havin to rewrite a story as well. I've wrtiien about four chapters and realise that I've writen one of the characters almost completly wrong - he's just not comfortable in the situation that I've put him in. Unfortunatly he is a major character, hence the stroy had to have a complete rewrite. Its not going to be a fun job, but hopfully rewarding if I actually get his character right this time!

haha! My characters are one of only 2 things I think of as MY BABIES.

The other is cats ^_^

And the minis. Can't forget them. They may just rebel.

I know the feeling. I love my world, and i keep digressing into huge info dumps about stuff that isn't that damned important. No matter how many times i start rewriting, there's always more i want to say. It's not good.

I feel the same. I do actually edit though. it's kinda along the lines of "ok kiddies, it seems that it's time for you to grow up" and then I slash off bits and rewrite them.

Yeah I TOTALLY agree :lol: ! I'm having a character development problem with one of mine...he's actually the main character, but he's just NOT that interesting...yet...*sighs*. I love my world though, the wierd thing is, is that I've made a story that I think I could change the direction of at any moment without it being to jarring, I'm gonna have to try it out and see. But yeah, I get attached to my chara's too ^_^ .

Characters are like your own little children. That's why I find fanfic so challengind, because you're having to write with someone else's characters.

See, i really need to develop my chars. I like my world, I like my story, but i need to make sure people care enough about my cahrs to keep reading. I'm starting all over again, with 5 first-person narrators, which should make it more interesting (touch wood) but it's hard cos i've never done first person before

try adding little habits and jokes and thinsg they notice into the writing..i THINK that's what I do anyway. Know your characters inside out :D

I've got stuff like that planned, but i'm still worried about the writing being interesting for the reader. See, my main char/narrator is less educated than some of the others which limits my vocab. And, as you know, i love my vocab!

it'll be interesting, trust me. you don't have to use large words to get a point across, trust me. I was an educated kid who liked to read and grew up playing with a bunch of Rez kids. they were still understandable and had interesting things to say,, kand you could definitely have a philosophy conversation with them. It's basically like a different language, so try looking at it that way, and remember, you never "caught" a ball, you "catched" it.

Fair enough. I'm sure I'll cope, but I've been working on my description skills for the last ten years, and now I'm unable to use the nice words i've come up with.

my suggestion: make up the words, or spell them wrong, or, seeing as its first person, have the description read "what's that word... (insert descriptive adjective)... I think" trust me, it's how those cats talk.

Lol, good idea, but I don't want it to sound too much like a conversation. Might try that though.

Rewriting can definitely be a nightmare. It seems that no matter how much time you spend rewriting, there's always more mistakes to fix!

I have been trying to fix my book for the last month, and I'm still not done! But I've learned a valuable lesson through all the erors I made. Never write at midnight! It just doesn't work!

Not tried it myself.

Never write when you're mum or sister is watching TV in the same room - I guarantee your brain will refuse to think. At all.