Re-write

I’m trying to write a book. It will be called “Then The Band Broke Up”. It has 16 chapters, each a separate band’s story.

It started off with the basics. Who was in the band? What instruments did they play? What was the set list? When did the band form and when did it break up?

Then the band members had to be described. Each member had his or her own personality and talent. Each member had certain idiosyncrasies and styles. Some band members I barely knew and some I’d known for years.

A ‘band’ is like a team or a group or a club. A ‘band’ is a bunch of people who get together for some reason. Ours was the music.

I also have to put my point-of-view into how the events took place. Most of the band members have either disappeared or died so there is no one to reference my remembrance of what happened.

As I write, I remember another incident or moment and have to rewrite the page. Then I have to go back to the other 15 chapters to see if a similar event happened there. Re-reading chapters spark another memory and I have to rewrite all over again.

I imagine this happens to all writers. If a character appears in a certain scene (a book is just like a script) and acts a certain way, do you go back to where he or she was first introduced to insure the character’s consistency? How do they keep up with sequels? Maybe that is what sequels are for because you remembered something that you forgot out of the first version?

Think about bands that have been playing for years and years and have to repeat the ‘hits’ every time. The audience wants it to be as close as the original. The band members have broadened their styles and range and are influenced by other bands and maybe want to play the song slower (or faster) or with reggae beat instead of 4/4 times. How many times have the Rolling Stones play ‘Satisfaction’?

I don’t know if I’ll ever finish “Then The Band Broke Up” but it is a good memoir for garage cover bands that never become famous. The rewrites are amazing discoveries of historic details that might be of interest to those who listened to their own hometown heroes emulating the real rock and roll icons.

Wouldn’t it be interesting if you could go back and rewrite life? Maybe send a different note to that little girl in science lab? Maybe not send that letter to a person you rarely know and having to wait weeks to get a ‘Dear John’ response? Maybe instead of saying ‘I do’ you might just want to think about it a bit longer?

Got to go back to writing or should I say, ‘rewriting’.