Finished the rewrite of “Right Before Your Very Eyes.” Pretty much, anyway. I need to do a final read-through before sending it to market.
I opted to redo the opening, as I had discussed last week–starting at the climax of the story. This can be a tricky bit of business. You have to be careful not to give away too much. As I went through the manuscript, I had to constantly keep in mind what the reader already knew about the ending. I think it all works. I think. That’s what my final read-through will tell me, I hope.
I also managed to cut 500 words, which makes me happy. I knew it was too long at 7500 words. I was rather pleased to find myself able to identify moments in the story that seemed to drag, and even better, to know why it was dragging there. You see, my protagonist, after suffering a significant shock in act two, went into a very passive mode, simply watching as events unfolded. Now, while this might be a completely realistic reaction to trauma, it just doesn’t make for very interesting reading. So I did some major cutting through this part.
I dunno. Maybe I’m getting better at this.
In other news, I’ve been having more daydreamy moments about the next novel, and even about possible future volumes set in the same universe. Excitement is building.
Up next, more Sekrit Projekt work, then a possible foray into a new story, contingent on whether it jells in time.
Write Club updates:
Tier one bounce from Horror Literature Quarterly, for “A Walk in the Woods, with Voices.” Response time, about three weeks.
And a rejection, with nice comments, from an agent on a partial of The Watermasters.
Onward.
