Put the end at the beginning?

As I have mentioned several times, I have decided to rewrite Rome's Revolution. The plan is to completely rewrite Part 1 and called it The Rome's Revolution Saga - Book 1: Rebirth. Part 2 will become Book 2: Rebellion and Part 3 will become Book 3: Redemption. Each book will be around 55,000 to 60,000 words.

The reason for this is very simple. Your first work should be your best work, after all, it is your first book that people use to form a judgment about you. If they like what they read, they will acquire your other books and be a bit more forgiving in terms of content, style or speed. Once I have completely rewritten and polished these smaller books, I will record them as audiobooks and finally bind them all back together into a large volume which will become Rome's Revolution, Second Edition. I will swap out the manuscript in all the places it is currently found. I will also combine the three audiobooks into one and end up with one gigantic audiobook.

My biggest problem to all of this is the legacy inherited from my first attempt, back when this book was called VIRUS 5. I wanted to write a book in a strict "you are there" style meaning everything in the 35th century would be strange and different and mostly inexplicable until you learn of the underlying reasons for things. A great idea for my fifth novel but not my first. It simply drags on too long until something happens. People want more action.

I was struggling on how to get more immediacy with this when it suddenly struck me: move the end to the beginning so that people can see poor Rei Bierak, stranded on Dara, getting ready to destroy the planet. Show them that Rome had to fly the Algol away and leave Rei behind, broken-hearted.

This new approach has actually been used time and again in books, on TV and in movies. You know what I mean, you see the hero or heroine in some precarious, horrible situation then the screen flashes up 12 hours earlier or one week earlier, whatever.

So that's what I did. In the new version, I give you two pages showing the poor man in the most horrible, dire situation and then flash up three days earlier. This way your interest is piqued and you have to read furiously to find out why he is in such bad shape. I have to give away a lot but not too much. It lets you speed through the beginning and get to the actual action feeling rewarded, not wandering aimlessly, wondering where the book is going.

I'm still polishing it and taking feedback from people and trying to get it concise and swiftly moving and written well. In a few weeks, when it's ready, I'll give you a preview. Until then, back to our analysis of Rome's Evolution with the whys and wherefores.