Paksworld

First two chapters of the revised POV are done…or rather, they are done enough that they went off to two readers, with some process questions in addition.

If those chapters do what I hoped, and the answers to the process questions indicate a clear path for the next few POV chapters, I won’t need to do much to some of them…the scene is set.   Some spoilerish details follow.

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Talk about mixed blessings…I get this monster down to a reasonable length, and then someone says “Yes, but…” and I start working on that, and boom! comes a plotbomb that explodes all over the scenery, showering it with many-many words.  Read the rest of this entry »

Book II has now undergone several procedures, starting with cloning and a new identity (has a hospital bracelet with the name of its primary and the number of its clone-identity), followed by (for that clone) extraction of all POV chapters for that character into another file.  Both the primary and the POV clone are on life support for the duration, ensuring that nothing’s permanently lost.  Read the rest of this entry »

Even though I just found yet another unfixed rough spot  in the new book,  Book Two is almost certain to take off for NYC and its Editor tomorrow.    What rough spot, you ask (thinking, surely this writer has filed off all the rough spots and polished them smooth by now…)

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Alpha-reader K.S. called up this evening, having seen the very latest draft, with a major motivation-hole to report.   I smothered my intense desire to waily-waily-waily-o-no-o-woe  and actually listened to what she said, which was similar to what a couple of you had said, but expressed in a way that suddenly made complete and total sense.  (She has this gift.  I think we were separated at birth or something.  Or maybe, having fixed so many other problems, my mind was uncluttered enough to Get It.)

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Now at page 760, though I left some unfinished business a couple of chapters back…needed more stewing over.   For one thing, the chronology of the various POVs, though accurate, is reading “off.”   This is always the most difficult part, for me, of writing in multiple viewpoints…the viewpoint shifts can’t violate the real chronology of the story but at the same time, exact one-to-one correspondence would make the book full of “Meanwhile, back at the ranch” paragraphs every page or so.    Sections must be long enough to give flow, but not so long that the next POV change requires a flashback-type transition.

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Reached 497 just now, with the word count for the whole coming down slowly.

Here’s an example for discussion:  A courier arrives with an urgent message.  While the courier catches his breath, the recipient opens the message case.

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Finally cracked the 300 page mark in revisions.

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Local experienced alpha reader, having read the latest (until this morning) version of a chapter, thought it much improved but still needing a tweak or two.  And finally got it through my head exactly what was bothering him.

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In order to free up some wordspace for what needs to be added,  something had to come out.    Several somethings, in fact.    Does this mean you, the readers, lose out on some deathless prose, some priceless nuggets of literary excellence?

Alas (alas, because I wish I wrote nothing but deathless prose and priceless nuggets, etc), no.   You are instead being saved some yawns and annoyance, as the excised bits were neither necessary nor sufficiently decorative.

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