Finished my read-through of Apocalypse Pictures Presents, and have compiled a laundry list of things to fix. Have a look:
1. My main protagonist all wrong, too bland and too whiny. He has to be much more charismatic and out there in order for the story to work. Or the story will have to be something completely different. At this point, I’m not even sure I can pull him off as a viewpoint character.
2. There’s a major plot hole in the second half of the novel that really, really, really needs fixing. And I’m not sure how to do it.
3. In chapter 5, I’ll need to retcon in a critical plot point.
4. One of the principal antagonists’ master plan is kinda stupid. Needs to be thought through.
5. And of course, the omnipresent line edits, including distressingly numerous repetitions of certain turns of phrase that I am clearly too fond of.
Item 1 is the biggie. It appears that I have a substantial rewrite ahead of me, possibly the most ambitious one that I’ve attempted at this length. It’s not so much my protagonist’s actions that need to change; it’s his personality. I think I chickened out in the first draft, going for safe, comfortable choices, which has robbed the story of the necessary tension. Time to get real.
So: I’m a bit intimidated by the scope of the job ahead of me, but excited by the possibilities if I can do this right. Already, the hamster wheels are turning.
First, though, I still owe a rewrite of From Earth I Have Arisen. Then the real fun begins.
Write Club update: A tier two bounce from an anthology. Response time, thirteen days.
And with that, I leave you. For now.
