I’m just about finished with my second re-write of Future Discovered and am still amazed at how much I am learning and how much more I have to learn. Fortunately, my editor Tammy Slayer is really good and a great teacher as well. I mentioned that I had 125 comments to address in the latest manuscript as well as a bunch of line and sentence edits. What I didn’t mention is that in addition to the in-manuscript comments, she produces a multipage critique pointing out general across the board issues and more suggestions. I’m going through those right now.
In some ways, these comments are more of a challenge than the manuscript comments in that they generally cover the whole story from front to back. For example, one of the main characters in this story is Barbara Fuller . . . an off and on love interest of Van Childs. My challenge was to give her more pages with introspection and goals. That meant starting from the beginning and following her development all through the story making amplifications and scenes devoted to her point of view (POV). I just finished doing that and found that doing a “Find” with her name made it easier and faster to track her through the story. Now I have to do the same with one other character, Brice Johnson.
I also have to give the bad guy more exposure toward the end of the story which will come today or tomorrow. I would not have caught all of this had it not been for Tammy. I know I often say the editorial process is not the fun part. And, it isn’t. But it is the learning part that really has to be done.
BTW, I recently signed up for another Write on the River retreat with Bob Mayer and Deb Cavanaugh. I’ll be there the weekend of 10 September and will drag Book 3, Search for the Host, along with me because it needs a lot of plot and character help.
Thanks for keeping in touch!
