The reader has certain rights. He bought your story. Think of this as an implicit contract. He's entitled to be entertained, instructed, amused; maybe all three. If he quits in the middle, or puts the book down feeling his time has been wasted, you're in violation.
-Larry Niven
I’ve completed my final draft of my second Fantasy Novel. I use the word “Final” here with complete knowledge that I am nowhere near done by any means. Final, in this instance, means it’s as far as I can take it on my own.
Now the next step is submitting it to my critique group and soliciting for Dedicated Readers. With any luck, I’ll receive two or three brutally honest critiques and I’ll finally get to the bottom of what is really left on the pages.
I know this story still has flaws. It was conceived in my mind, took shape there, and was defined there. While I’ve done what I can to identify and correct as many of these flaws as I possibly could, the ones that remain are difficult for me to see. When I look, I see the whole story. Not just the parts that appear on the pages. I see the parts that were thought but never written; I see the parts that were written but later removed; I see the alternate events that never took place, as well as all the possible variation of the ones that ultimately did end up on paper.
It’s difficult to step away and see only what’s left.
While a small part of me dreads this step in the process, a larger part is looking forward to it. I know I can’t complete this story until I gain this outside perspective. Maybe there are writers who do it all totally by themselves; writer who can see their shortcomings without outside eyes. But as of right now I know that I’m not one of them. I don’t kid myself.
While these Dedicated Readers will be volunteering to help me (I hope), I still feel I have a responsibility to them. They are paying me to read my story. Not with money, but with their time and efforts. When they are done, I do not want them to feel like either have been wasted.
With that in mind, I’ve put a great deal of effort into cleaning the manuscript up for its first presentation: I’ve triple checked the spelling; read through twice for grammar; followed a timeline to be sure event lines are accurate; read dialogue out loud to be sure it works well; did a line by line edit to check punctuation and word usage. But most importantly, I’ve done my best to write an entertaining and exciting story.
Despite all my efforts, I know it’s likely still riddled with flaws and mistakes. It’s just over 80,000 words. The odds that I have found and fixed every mistake are just not likely. But, I’ll be sending it out knowing that I’ve done everything I could to minimize them. After all, I’m asking for story help with a novel, not help with a ninth grade English paper. My mechanics had better be the best I can make them or I have bigger issues than plot holes.
In the end, I’m ultimately looking for the truth about things like: How solid is the beginning hook; do the characters seem 3-dimensional; do the individual motives feel realistic and believable; are the events choreographed well, giving clear images to the reader; is the pace too slow or too fast in places and if so, where; etc..
As I said, I see too much when I read this story. I can’t always tell if I’ve created enough anticipation in the reader when I already know what’s going to happen and how things ultimately end.
So, I wish me luck in the weeks ahead as my beautiful masterpiece goes under the knife. Whether it turns out to be a minor procedure or a major surgery, I know it’s going to be a painful operation. I’m hopeful for the best, but I’m preparing for the worst. In the end though, I have no doubt I will make a full recovery. With any luck my manuscript will as well.
-Larry Niven
I’ve completed my final draft of my second Fantasy Novel. I use the word “Final” here with complete knowledge that I am nowhere near done by any means. Final, in this instance, means it’s as far as I can take it on my own.
Now the next step is submitting it to my critique group and soliciting for Dedicated Readers. With any luck, I’ll receive two or three brutally honest critiques and I’ll finally get to the bottom of what is really left on the pages.
I know this story still has flaws. It was conceived in my mind, took shape there, and was defined there. While I’ve done what I can to identify and correct as many of these flaws as I possibly could, the ones that remain are difficult for me to see. When I look, I see the whole story. Not just the parts that appear on the pages. I see the parts that were thought but never written; I see the parts that were written but later removed; I see the alternate events that never took place, as well as all the possible variation of the ones that ultimately did end up on paper.
It’s difficult to step away and see only what’s left.
While a small part of me dreads this step in the process, a larger part is looking forward to it. I know I can’t complete this story until I gain this outside perspective. Maybe there are writers who do it all totally by themselves; writer who can see their shortcomings without outside eyes. But as of right now I know that I’m not one of them. I don’t kid myself.
While these Dedicated Readers will be volunteering to help me (I hope), I still feel I have a responsibility to them. They are paying me to read my story. Not with money, but with their time and efforts. When they are done, I do not want them to feel like either have been wasted.
With that in mind, I’ve put a great deal of effort into cleaning the manuscript up for its first presentation: I’ve triple checked the spelling; read through twice for grammar; followed a timeline to be sure event lines are accurate; read dialogue out loud to be sure it works well; did a line by line edit to check punctuation and word usage. But most importantly, I’ve done my best to write an entertaining and exciting story.
Despite all my efforts, I know it’s likely still riddled with flaws and mistakes. It’s just over 80,000 words. The odds that I have found and fixed every mistake are just not likely. But, I’ll be sending it out knowing that I’ve done everything I could to minimize them. After all, I’m asking for story help with a novel, not help with a ninth grade English paper. My mechanics had better be the best I can make them or I have bigger issues than plot holes.
In the end, I’m ultimately looking for the truth about things like: How solid is the beginning hook; do the characters seem 3-dimensional; do the individual motives feel realistic and believable; are the events choreographed well, giving clear images to the reader; is the pace too slow or too fast in places and if so, where; etc..
As I said, I see too much when I read this story. I can’t always tell if I’ve created enough anticipation in the reader when I already know what’s going to happen and how things ultimately end.
So, I wish me luck in the weeks ahead as my beautiful masterpiece goes under the knife. Whether it turns out to be a minor procedure or a major surgery, I know it’s going to be a painful operation. I’m hopeful for the best, but I’m preparing for the worst. In the end though, I have no doubt I will make a full recovery. With any luck my manuscript will as well.
RSS Feed