Another Rewrite?

I was watching the TV this evening and I was inspired. The trouble is, I'm inspired to rewrite the lot. I'm thinking if I compress the first book into Act 1 of a new book, and then

flow straight into what would have been Book 2 in Act 2.

This would mean an utter and complete rewrite of the entire novel.

I'm plotting out what it would look like now.

This would be the third version of this book but I just want to make it perfect. I want it to be a really entertaining, so that my readers enjoy the story.

There's a bunch of good stuff in the version I have now so I'd have to move that over and adjust it accordingly.

Am I fidgeting with the story for the sake of fidgeting with it or will this really benefit the story? Maybe if I plot out the story properly I would be able to make sure that every element of the story moves the narrative on. It would also highlight the journey the characters make.

So, it looks like I'm starting again from scratch. It'll depend on what my beta readers say, but if the story would benefit from Book 2 starting in Act 2 of Book 1, then I'm going to do it.

Ready to Submit

Well, that's not technically true. My manuscript is now with my beta readers and awaiting feedback.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that. It is in good hands. I think what I really want is for my beta readers to enjoy reading my book. I want them to enjoy the story and feel as if they want to know what happens next.

I hope I've created intriguing characters that draw my betas in and help them to connect with the story. That's what I'm hoping.

My Next Job

So now, it's to research publishers and find out the submissions guidance for contemporary middle grade science fiction.

I have read my story to children who are not quite in the age group I've aimed it at and they've enjoyed it. I think.

That's what I'm doing at the moment, anyway. Researching. Plus the day job.

Wish me luck!

So, How's It Going?

Just to provide readers with an update on how the editing process is coming along. It's coming slowly.

The trouble is, I'm fairly honest and realistic about my writing. It's a fact that the start of this book is better than the ending. I'm trying to unpick why and change it accordingly.

One thing I didn't like was that my female protag was asking too many questions of my male protag. It was as if she couldn't make a decision on her own.

I changed that pronto.

Then there are other elements, like little asides that give the tone of my writing in the first half of the book but fall to the wayside in the second half. They needed to be added in for that extra perspective.

And then, once I've edited a section of text, if I flick back to that page for any reason I spot more imperfections that either I missed or are caused by the edits I've made.

But, I think there are always going to be little things I pick up on. Sometimes I change which protag said what depending on the situation and the message I want to give about that protag.

During my edits, I've also added a bit more foreshadowing. Lots of, 'Lexi wondered if she'd ever [do that] again.' I'm trying to add a few more mentions of the Moon, etc.

I have been told that an author can't edit their own work. I have spotted a few spelling mistakes or where I haven't

capitalised the start of a sentence or a name, for example. I've restructured some scenes, I'm writing new scenes as one of the locations in my book appears from nowhere. Now it appears earlier in the book and isn't quite so convenient. I also purposely excluded a scene from the book but now I think it really needs to be in as an event happens suddenly. There is foreshadowing for it, but I don't think that's enough. I think the reader may need to just see it.

I have also deleted any unnecessary telling and replaced it with showing, however it is a children's book so there needs to be a certain type of telling which also shows.

If I can get my editing done by the end of the week, hopefully I can get the manuscript to beta readers. It'll be good to step back from writing for a little while during the beta reads. I may even carry on with my cross stitch!

Wish me luck!

Engrossed

An odd thing happened today.

I was on the bus, reading my manuscript. Usually, I'm ready to hop off the bus as soon as it stops as I'm eager to get to my day job.

Today, however, the driver got off the bus before me! I was so

engrossed in my own manuscript I didn't realise that I had got to my stop.

How does that happen?

What I'm hoping is, if I, as the author, find the story engrossing, does that mean it is good?

I think it is important that we, as the authors, write a book that we enjoy reading. It has to be a story that we have enjoyed reading.

Actually, I'm not sure 'enjoy' is the correct word. Perhaps I should say that the story should be enthralling even to us who know it inside and out.

I know everything about Tim and Lexi, my protagonists. I know Tim's TV show and what Lexi likes to eat for breakfast. I know every single move they make and yet, I still find their story riveting.

I'm not trying to blow my own trumpet here. I think I'm actually amazed that I wrote something so absorbing. I genuinely didn't think I could do that. I hoped I could, of course.

I'm just starting chapter 2 of the manuscript. Every page has some edits to do and I should be able to put those in place for my beta readers fairly quickly.

I'm actually quite nervous about handing over my manuscript to beta readers. I'm not sure how I'll cope with criticism about my baby.

To be fair, though. The ending of my story was a little rushed as I was so keen to see what happened next. Even with the ending rewrite, there is still an element of rushed, I think. I believe the quality of the story is much better at the start than at the end.

I had better get on with it! Keep reading for more updates!

It's Finished!

I've finished the middle grade contemporary science fiction novel that I started in July. I wrote the last line in the story and now I'm feeling... wow.

The last line of the story is the set up for the next one and I just wanted to keep on typing but a story has to stop at some point, I suppose.

I was reading to my own kids in July, and I thought, I wanted to create a story that I'd want them to read when they're older.

If no one publishes it, they'll be the only ones who do read it! Hahah!

But seriously, I am a huge Sci Fi fan and I would love to share my enjoyment with my own children. The aim of the book was to appeal to both my son and my daughter. I have a strong female character (who's personality is very much like my daughter) and a brilliant male character (who again has a very similar personality to my son) and their dynamic is something I'm really happy with.

So, what's next?

My next step is to print out the manuscript and heavily edit with a good, old fashioned biro.

I did try putting a novel on my Kindle (using it as a USB with a screen) and editing it from there but I just got too frustrated that the writing wasn't perfect.

I will give my novel a heavy edit and then pass that edited manuscript on to Beta readers. Any volunteers?

I do have two very kind readers queued up to read the finished story and hopefully others who will be brutally honest with constructive feedback.

Then, once everything has been changed and is ready to go, submission. I'm not entirely sure where to submit my story this time. That's if it's any good, let's see what the beta readers say.

I have heard that some people say to walk away from your manuscript for a month and to just let it all sink in. I think I'll read through, do the edit, submit it to betas and then step back until my betas are ready to give feedback.

I just really want to write a story that is entertaining and that children enjoy reading.

Finding it a Bit Tricky

So, I've been trying to rewrite the ending to my middle grade novel. That's where I've been hiding all this time and why there haven't been many blog posts.

Well, writing book is really the reason there aren't many blog posts.

It's the ending I've been finding tricky. I think I must have written the ending at least five times by now.

The annoying thing is, I love this story. I really enjoy writing it and reading it! The reason why the ending is so rubbish in the first place is that I was so excited to see what would happen next that I completely rushed it.

It doesn't make sense. People appear and disappear all over the chapters and it's too foggy to see what's happening.

I've tried to find the point in the later chapters where the story begins to fall apart. That was too complicated because there was a lot of information in those chapters that I wanted to keep. Then I tried to simply edit those chapters but there was too much bad writing that it was depressing me and switching me off to writing.

In the end, I've decided to completely rewrite the end chapters. I've put away my hastily written hand copy and now I'm typing it directly onto the computer. Something I only do for blog posts! Gasp! (As you can tell from my poor spelling.)

It is certainly going better now that I've started to simply rewrite the ending. I can just delete anything I don't like and edit it a lot quicker than I can when writing by hand.

This may be the end of writing by hand for me.

More about that later.

I am continuing with the ending rewrite. I've been posting about it quite often on my Twitter feed. I think I'm winning. Everything is happening as I wanted it to but I just want it to be beautifully and seamlessly written. I want it to be exciting and enjoyable and page-turning.

Fingers crossed that's how it goes.