Is It Time to Step Away?

I'm swamped with the crippling self doubt - again.

I know where this book is going. I don't want to spoil the ending but I know what happens at the end. I know what happens at the start. It's getting from the start to the end and making it a wild adventure on the way.

I have sought out the advice of amazing published authors and as a result, I'm going to take a step back from my manuscript and read Outlining Your Novel by K.M. Weiland.

I'm so happy with this book, the characters and the story. I just want to tell it at it's absolute best. I want the impact of the story to be as strong as it can be.

I need the story to capture and entertain the readers as much as I can.

I want this book to be pure science fiction indulgence. I want this to be a book I'd like my own children to read, especially my daughter. I want my main characters to play with alien technology, to fly spaceships. to defeat the baddies by using their smarts. They're going to figure out what's going on and uncover mysteries.

Maybe when I step back and read the outlining book, I'll be able to look at my novel with fresh eyes.

The trouble is, I'm not sure whether this novel should tell the full story of how Tim and Lexi find out about aliens or if it should be a few chapters of a book where Tim and Lexi leave the Earth entirely. I want it to be magical. I want the reader to say 'Wow!' I want the reader to be amazed, awed and astonished by what they see in this book.

I definitely think I need to step away and replot. I think when I did my first rewrite, I kept in the mistakes I'd made in the first draft. I think maybe I should consider a dream state. What would be the most amazing thing to happen to my two protagonists?

I need to think about what children enjoy in their reading. What captured imagination for the children when they read Harry Potter or Twilight or Hunger Games? Why was Enders Game so popular? I don't want to write like those other authors, I don't want to create a carbon copy. I think the experience of other authors is something to think about and not copy, not emulate but learn from and adapt my writing accordingly.

I do have a lot to think about. I think the last draft I wrote will need to change. I really like this story and I am not going to give up on it. I just need to make it as

perfect as I can.

I need to remember that I only started writing it in July and even to finish the book by now is an achievement. A little rewrite of the events in the book is a minor part really as I have the characters and a direction for the plot.

Wish me luck as I very reluctantly step away from my manuscript.

This is Where I Am With My Writing

I went through my novel and I re-plotted it.

All the orange ink on this page are the corrections! When I say corrections, I mean parts of the book where I wanted to add more detail, close a plot hole or change the entire scene completely.

I thought I was ready to submit but now I'm checking the book

over again and actually retyping it - entirely!

I'm 4000 words into the rewrite and hopefully it's improved by the rewrite.

I'm also firming up the characterisations. I want to check that Lexi doesn't say something that's out of character for her. Or that Tim does something that he wouldn't normally. I don't want my reader to stumbled over bad writing.

On that note, I actually read in my own work, "Please wake up, she pleaded." Arg! I may have to confiscate my own pens if I actually write things like that.

So, that's where I am at the moment. Another rewrite. I'll be on draft 4 but this is only a minor step as once I've plotted it scene by scene and put it on the happiness scale, I'll need to read it through again, put the scenes into chapters and rewrite any paragraphs that still read clumsy.

If you're thinking, 'don't over edit' I don't think I am. I'm just trying to polish what I have and eradicate any more 'please, she pleaded,' rubbish!

This book is an absolute passion of mine. I'm sure I've got a good story and I'm keen to share it.