Tuesday, June 1, 2010

TMI for one post

So it's been WAY too long since I last posted anything. There are several reasons for this, the main ones being spotty internet service and lack of time. So now I'm going to attempt a partial catch-up post. This is basically a synopsis of posts to come.

Since April, I have enlisted the help of the wonderfully talented and much appreciated help of free-lance editor Cassandra Marshall. (The how's and why's of going the route of an editor will be another post. That's a really long story.) Cassandra spent a harrowing week and a half looking over my MS and came back with some much needed information. In essence, here are the issues you're going to have with "Plot A" or "Character B" type stuff, work on them. So work I have... A LOT. I have torn apart, reassembled, rearranged and rethought every possible aspect of my story. Why all trouble, you ask?

It is NEVER a good idea to split a story into two!

Again, why is this? Because then you end up with half of a story. Even if you wrap it up nicely, it still isn't finished. There's junk just hanging out there, left unfinished. In my case, there wasn't enough excitement because the big BANG! of the story would've ended up in the beginning pages of Book 2. Not much encouragement for finishing Book 1 there. Really, who wants to experience a day in the life of... ? No one. That's boring. So lesson learned from my POV. I hope, hope, hope none of you try this because it never works and is a huge pain in the rump!

What does all of this mean for me? Back to the drawing board to see what fits the best. Perhaps after cutting out the fluff of Book 1, I can combine them into one story again. More than likely however, I'm going to end up filling in some scenes with enough excitement that the BANG! of Book 2 will be it's own surprise and not related to Book 1 in any way. I guess we'll see :)

7 comments:

  1. Thanks for the shout out Hope! it was a pleasure :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Can't wait to read it! I may have to give her a call once I get my finished.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Heather! Cassandra is *fabulous*! I can't say enough about her. I highly recommend her services, especially if this is your first experience writing. She's been indispensable for me during this whole process. I'll be blogging about that ASAP :p

    ReplyDelete
  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Trying this again: stop on by my blog, because I've got a blogging award for you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nice blog!! I completely relate to your post because I keep revising and redoing my novel. I will be incredibly happy when it feels finished. Good luck with your writing; your editor sounds awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks, Saumya. I'm glad you found something useful in my writing. Cassandra is actually doing a FREE edit right now. Check out her blog! camarshall.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete