Editing Out The Kids!

In the long journey to tell an exciting book-length story, I’ve done some brutal manuscript editing, but this week is especially tough. I’ve got to nix the kids. Yes, my main character’s own children!

Each draft of this novel has seen big changes. In the first go-round, my main characters had an eventful 50 page nail-biting trek to Idaho that ended in an explosion (and then ended up on the cutting room floor). The second time around I had to add an entirely new desire line built around buried family secrets (so there was a lot of burying to do, so to speak). And now, I am ready to face another big change:  editing out two nice young kids who are bogging down the plot line.

Why? Well, I’d gotten the same feedback over and over from draft one, “What role do the kids play in this story?” and I’ve never been able to answer that question. Then there are the obvious areas in the plot where the kids have to be somewhere, since they aren’t in most of the scenes. So I invented them a babysitter, who was boring and didn’t matter to the story either.

How did I finally decide to make the cut? I realized I was tweaking the plot to make sure they weren’t forgotten or left unattended at home, and keeping it up was becoming a real pain in the ass.

So it’s done. They’re gone.

But maybe not forever. I shaved seven years off my main character’s age in this process, making sure that there is room for the kids in the sequel!

The journey to a completed novel continues

I’m at it again. Another novel draft. Yes. Another one. I can hardly believe it myself.

If I knew at the beginning of this project that I’d be working on this manuscript for as long as I have (three years and counting), I’m not sure I would have even begun. That would have been a shame. I would have missed out on the long list of great books I’ve read over that span, the wonderful writers I’ve met along the way, and the journey of discovery that following this path has provided me.

The biggest surprise so far? That I’m thrilled to still be working on this project. Yes, thrilled. Delighted and giddy, too. Dancing around the room even, when I get a good writing session in for the day.

Why? Because I am continually making progress. It turns out there are enough small victories to fill up years of work so far, and more victories are on the horizon. I’ve recently completed a scene building class, and what I learned there is fueling the next wave of manuscript improvements. I can already see the writing is better (again), and that makes me want to keep working and stretching my skills.

When will I be done with this book? Who knows. One of these days I’ll stop my typing and declare the project complete (again), but until then, I’ll be here at my desk. I’ll be writing and studying and editing and improving. And whenever I have one of those really good writing sessions, I’ll be dancing around the room.

Keep Writing

I’m working hard at my table here at The Backstory Cafe this morning. My iced mocha rests near the giant stack of papers and books in front of me. I’ve already decided that I’ll reward myself with the giant chocolate cupcake I see in the bakery display, if I stop goofing off and get my pages done for the day, that is. My motto for the week:  KEEP WRITING!

The editing continues on my current manuscript, now that I have had a few comments back from agents. Chapter one doesn’t resonate with the same amount of suspense as the rest of the book, it turns out, so I’m rewriting. Again. I’m also giving the whole manuscript a complete “voice read.” I’ll find more places that need improvement, I’m sure, and then I’ll once again hit the streets with this project.

In the meantime, I’m also working on something new. Lolly Collins is a character that has been ready for a full-length project for a while now, and she’s bugging me for her shot. Lolly is an 83-year-old card-sharking, sass-talking, sneaky as hell detective genius. She is a frequent Confidential Informant for the police force of the rural Arizona town she grew up in. Lolly loves gin, both the card game and the booze, equally, and her ability to sniff out trouble is only slightly larger than her ability to create it. Lolly is on a new case, and I’m collecting her story as fast as I can. It’s hard keeping up with that woman!

I take a long sip of my iced mocha and look at the jumbles of papers on this table. It’s hard to tell if I’ve made any progress yet today, but as long as I keep writing I’ll be fine. Eventually, I’ll earn that cupcake.