Early Finish = Yuck

I completed the Synopsis of my novel on Sunday, a little bit earlier than I had first planned. It turned out to be a twelve page monstrosity. I cringe every time I glance at it. I have a copy sitting on my coffee table that I took a handful of highlighters to. The main problem I see with this first novel of mine, written four years ago, is the multiple perspectives. It is all told in third person, but it switches around. The first chapter is from the point of view of Harold. The second is of Celia. The third jumps back to Harold, and then Rodney midchapter. After that it starts to swirl into a pile a crap, some chapters made up of six different perspectives.

I used the highlighters to mark up the synopsis, one color for each perspective. Some pages look like candy canes and I cringe every time I look at them. I counted out all the shifts in perspective, and there are so many I don't even want to write out the number.

I honestly considered abandoning the project after I saw how many shifts there were. I looked at the manuscript, and considered throwing it in the trash. I didn't, but I am still conflicted about it.

The manuscript has a lot of things fighting for its demise. They feel like children biting at my ankles. I want to just kick them and tell them to go away, but in reality, people don't like it when you kick their children. Problems: I wrote it four years ago, while I was in community college. I wrote it before I was an English major, before I had learned everything I know now, the "Don't EVER, EVER, EVER DO THAT's" and the "That stuff works!." I wrote it over a period of six weeks, the majority of it written in one month. I wrote some chapters of it lit up on cheap wine and / or gin and tonics. Also, I wrote it without a plan for how the plot would be structured.

But it also has some good points: Some chapters make me laugh out loud when I read them. Some chapters make me say, "Oh, that's how it's supposed to work." Even though there is a lot of filler and crap in there that needs to be removed and there is a lot of scenes and character development that needs to be added, it still has potential.

The question I keep asking myself is whether the manuscript is worth it. I can go back to working on my second novel, or my other projects, which will be much easier to polish, and write this first novel off as a learning experience. Most people do not get their first novels published. Even Stephen King, the master of the art of Horror, didn't catch any flies until he wrote his third.

But the idea, the concept is so good: An alien planet run by a hotel. What could be better? I am continuing as scheduled. I must go on. For now!

Current project: Re-write
Weekly Assignment: Try to combine scenes so that only one point of view is shown per chapter.
Due: June 15

Mission + Deadline

Synopsis = June 15

Rewrite of third and final draft = July 30

Query Letter Written and Reviewed = August 5

Query Letters Sent = August 10

These dates are subject to reality and therefore may be subject to delays.


www.therapistinstlouis.com
www.stlouissextherapist.com

It Begins + Editing Exercise

So, I started a blag. I experimented in blogs when I was in college, but most of those all ended up being a complete waste of time. This blog has a mission, to track my progress in my mission to scale the publishing world. While there are many goals along the way, such as editing the pants out of my second draft, to getting an agent, the ultimate goal lies in the accumulation of an agent.

The novel, "Project V," is in it's pre-adolecent stage. I wrote the first draft four years ago, in December 04, and while being four years old might be young for humans, this is not so for novels. It has some idea of what it wants to be in the world, but for some reason people still ask whether it's retarded or not. It has a firm grasp of the English language, yet it still stutters every once in a while and requires a firm slap across its face. It's a child-like draft that wants to be a fully fleshed out fucking novel that will fucking sell.

Current Mission: SYNOPSIS
Deadline: June 15

Create a synopsis consisting of a few paragraphs for each chapter written, not to exceed five pages. While writing the draft, keep in mind which scenes might need to be cut out and which scenes might need to be added.

While creating the synopsis, keep these questions in mind:

Are there too many characters?

Are the characters not fleshed out enough?

Did you yourself ever roll your eyes after reading a paragraph? If so, highlight it.

Did you ever question a character's motives? If so, can it be explained? If not, can it be changed?

Do the shifting points of view distract and confuse the reader? (YES!) If so, consider keeping to one point of view within each chapter. (working on that!)

NEXT MISSION: The Rewrite

Thank you, and good writing!

-Josh