Act One Is A Little Long
In every book writing process, there comes a time when you absolutely cannot see where you’ve gone wrong. And, friends, we have reached that time with Nita’s book.
I’m still rewriting Acts Three and Four, but Act One is ready for beta reads. And since I’ve posted earlier drafts on here before, I’m giving it to any of you who care to read 42,000 words of too long fictional first act that you probably have read too many times already. (For those of you new to this, a first act must introduce the protagonist and introduce or foreshadow the main conflict, preferably on the first page, introduce all the major characters, foreshadow the antagonist, introduce all the subplots, and end with a turning point that spins the plot in a new direction and makes the story new. Backward and in high heels.)
So I need fresh eyes, aka beta readers that are not me, to look at this act. I know some of you have read a thousand drafts of this already, so “fresh” is stretching it, but any help you can give is appreciated. And if you can’t, that’s fine, I’ll just sit here in the dark alone.
I need to know:
1. What Needs To Be Cut: This goes back to Elmore Leonard’s Rule: Try not to write the parts people skip. I’m not talking about what’s not necessary to the story. It’s ALL necessary to the story, every brilliant word of it. I’m talking about the parts where you start to skim, the parts you’re bored by, the parts you hurry through to get to the good part you hope is coming up. I don’t care if it’s crucial to the plot, if you’re skimming, that part gets cut because let’s face it, you’re not reading that part anyway. I’ll get the info in some other way. Tell me where you got bored, where things went on too long, where you started looking at the clock and thinking about something other than the story (food, sex, a different book, etc.). The first act is about seven thousand words too long, so I know the dull parts are in there. Be brutal.
2. What Must Be Kept: I’m going to have to cut seven thousand words. What parts of this act would you throw your body in front of to protect? What stays no matter what? Because otherwise, that bit may feel my vorpal blade.
3. Anything Else You Feel Compelled To Share: Those are the two things I most need from beta readers, but given my experience with betas in the past, you will feel constrained by limiting yourself to those two key criticisms. So go ahead and put your two cents here. However, avoid sharing suggestions as to how you’d fix a problem. Instead, go write a blog post explaining in detail how you’d fix all the bad parts, developing a better cast and providing a better plot. Then write that book.
At least that’s how I ended up spending three years writing this sucker.
Follow the links starting with this one:
and if you have time, put your critiques in the comments below.
Thank you very, very much.
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