Back To Beginnings
Some cleaning is necessary now that I've made the decision to tackle The Sun Also Sets as the next big project.
I've run the first three chapters past the writing group this past month or so. We had started a discussion about romance and whether certain ideas, such as love at first sight, were believable or not, and the opening chapters seemed appropriate to consider. At least, I wanted to see whether I had made a successful pass or not. The group suffered from the disadvantage of not seeing the prologue, which I'd already sold to Black Static.*
First point to make is that they found the romance believable, but they wanted some indication as to where the story was headed. It seemed grounded in reality and the points where the tale hinted at the UnDead antagonists weren't clear. Of course, if you've read the prologue and know the setup, it's all too clear what's going on here in the trenches. So, score one for the home team. The main characters aren't sure what's happening, but the reader knows, and the subtle hints dropped for the main characters work.
Second point is that everyone offered some good comments about the first three chapters. There's some things I can clean up and tweak to make those chapters (which are the ones agents see in a submission) read smoother.
Final point is that those parts I glossed over in the interest of moving the story along are scenes that could/should get written. I can show Burr watching Christopher and Joan, setting up events and decisions in chapters three, four and seven.* There are unwritten scenes before the events detailed in chapter eleven that can make the story deeper, broader in scope. I just need the guts to do it.
Consequently, there are ten days left until I officially start my 70 Days, and my run toward a June 30 deadline 122 days out in the future. Ten days to make minor tweaks in chapters one and two, and then rewrite the beginning of chapter three and revamp chapter four. Ten days to write a new chapter and insert it between chapter ten and eleven.***
The agent who asked for the full hasn't replied yet, and I know there aren't any guarantees they'll take me on as a client. So, I can only continue to make the book as good as possible, learn from my mistakes, and give The Sun Also Sets a running start. Diving down again after briefly surfacing for air will work. Five days to tweak and revamp three and four, and five days for the new chapter.
* -- It's a critique group, and it seemed counterproductive to give them something they could not critique.
** -- Damn dominoes. Knock down the first one and the others fall over in line.
*** -- Which will support the brevity of certain scenes in chapter sixteen, already the longest chapter at 100 pages. And while it seems funny to note that chapter sixteen runs for 100 pages, if I show some things in this "new" chapter, sixteen will stand on firmer ground.
I've run the first three chapters past the writing group this past month or so. We had started a discussion about romance and whether certain ideas, such as love at first sight, were believable or not, and the opening chapters seemed appropriate to consider. At least, I wanted to see whether I had made a successful pass or not. The group suffered from the disadvantage of not seeing the prologue, which I'd already sold to Black Static.*
First point to make is that they found the romance believable, but they wanted some indication as to where the story was headed. It seemed grounded in reality and the points where the tale hinted at the UnDead antagonists weren't clear. Of course, if you've read the prologue and know the setup, it's all too clear what's going on here in the trenches. So, score one for the home team. The main characters aren't sure what's happening, but the reader knows, and the subtle hints dropped for the main characters work.
Second point is that everyone offered some good comments about the first three chapters. There's some things I can clean up and tweak to make those chapters (which are the ones agents see in a submission) read smoother.
Final point is that those parts I glossed over in the interest of moving the story along are scenes that could/should get written. I can show Burr watching Christopher and Joan, setting up events and decisions in chapters three, four and seven.* There are unwritten scenes before the events detailed in chapter eleven that can make the story deeper, broader in scope. I just need the guts to do it.
Consequently, there are ten days left until I officially start my 70 Days, and my run toward a June 30 deadline 122 days out in the future. Ten days to make minor tweaks in chapters one and two, and then rewrite the beginning of chapter three and revamp chapter four. Ten days to write a new chapter and insert it between chapter ten and eleven.***
The agent who asked for the full hasn't replied yet, and I know there aren't any guarantees they'll take me on as a client. So, I can only continue to make the book as good as possible, learn from my mistakes, and give The Sun Also Sets a running start. Diving down again after briefly surfacing for air will work. Five days to tweak and revamp three and four, and five days for the new chapter.
* -- It's a critique group, and it seemed counterproductive to give them something they could not critique.
** -- Damn dominoes. Knock down the first one and the others fall over in line.
*** -- Which will support the brevity of certain scenes in chapter sixteen, already the longest chapter at 100 pages. And while it seems funny to note that chapter sixteen runs for 100 pages, if I show some things in this "new" chapter, sixteen will stand on firmer ground.