Hello,
I'm gonna ramble about White Wedding rewrites. IT'S SO HARD?!?!??!?! Everyone's wondering why I didn't just let it be republished as is, but, eyyy I have a conscience. On rereading, I was surprised it was, idk, welcomed, by some people, and sought after, nowadays. But I thought, upon accepting the idea of the republishing, I shouldn't be too hard at least on the idea. So, if very thorough rewriting was accepted, the idea could be revitalised. And, eyy, it was accepted. But now I have no patience to write something so.... fuelled with sappy romance.
So, I redirected the focus in the rewrite. The story's really about family, I simply lost track because of the notion it came from (i.e. Lindsay Villatoro story). So, there's gonna be more portion with the Ma and the Gran. And some family fren. To explain the family. And Sierra is presented more as an escape from a mostly dysfunctional family, than anything else. He's also demoted from tutoring to an emergency babysitter slash friend, which makes more sense (i.e. someone needs to take care of a minor when the adults are hospitalised etc). I make more sense now. That's good.
Setting aside the development of Ma and other people I'm still working with (IT TAKES A LOOONG TIME IT'S SO HARD I CAN'T DO IT i'll do it tho), what I realised through the writing is the shift in the character of Elphi & Sierra. I'll start with Sierra because that's more noticeable: In the earlier version, he's just saccharine sweet softie, but in the revised version, I think he's much more... stern, that's the word. And a little bit more matter-of-fact, there's a lot less doting and consoling from his part. It's still progressing, but I realised that it's reflected from the original story from which these characters came from? (Shut up, I make a publishable story for kids from stories I will not publish :o I like them :o sshh) So, the original Sierra was sweet, but after smoothing out this and that, it made sense to add a touch of resoluteness, even if it's unwanted from his part.
And Elphi... Elphi's change is more subtle but she's not just cranky and sad, she's pragmatic. I think that's quite nice to observe, because in the original story, Sierra speaks in dreamy verses but is actually pragmatic, while Elphi speaks pragmatically but is a closet romantic. In WW, the pragmatism is enforced upon her as a way to cope, methinks. But also, this is totally just for me, but I love observing the difference of Elphi's circumstances. In the original story, she takes love for granted because she's showered with it, and the story provides her a situation where she could lose it. In WW, she's always on the ready of losing loved ones, and abundance is an alien thing she approaches carefully.
Anyhoo,
The changes are MASSIVE but that's what you're gonna get... I don't feel like maintaining the old narration, but that's kinda how life goes; as you grow, your motives got more thoughts thrusted in it and your thoughts have more motives in it. 10 years later, what was thought of as quite an exhaustive piece (in its own way) seems very simplistic and sloppy. It's a good thing! It means there's growth. IDK if it'll appeal to those who are looking for a marshmallow romance, but I think it's best to keep on this course. I'll just stress out over republishing it otherwise. Why would people read something from a juvenile collection ;w; (But also: It's quite relieving to be able to rewrite old stories? Quite like a redemption for exposing you to them? Or, more nicely, a chance to improve upon something once loved. Like adding pepper to a salt-only fried egg.
Now, on to the sneaky update:
Remember I once said I'd probably consider republishing JSP if I'm actually considering writing the sequel? Well, let that sink in.