The 10% Solution
I've been rewriting and rewriting the first couple of chapters of The Rebels. It's set a record for me. I rarely have to rewrite something more than once, if at all. I'm usually fairly comfortable with what I put down on a page, but not this story.
I finally had a version I was fairly happy with. Well, 90% happy. It was a much better effort with a bang at the beginning and good character interaction between the mains, but I knew there was something missing. That last little niggling 10%. I had no idea what it was, but I knew it was there.
In The Empire, it was the 2nd chapter that really lifted the story. It made the reader 'feel' what the character was experiencing. While it was an uncomfortable feeling, it showed the strength of the writing. Without it, it was just an ordinary story, at least for me.
Well, I finally realize what it is. The greatest lesson I've learned in rewriting these few chapters over and over, is that a writer shouldn't hang onto favorite ideas. It can be detrimental to the health of a story.
Spoiler
On to the solution. Originally I introduced Sester as a mysterious character in a cell. It had a detached feel and the potential for something extremely engaging was missed. Now that I'm introducing Argus as a mysterious character, it made it redundant to do it with Sester too. Plus there is an element of excitement involved with Sester during the escape that was bypassed in the writing, so I am going to change this part of his story line, bring him in much earlier and make his experience much more dynamic and intense.
I finally had a version I was fairly happy with. Well, 90% happy. It was a much better effort with a bang at the beginning and good character interaction between the mains, but I knew there was something missing. That last little niggling 10%. I had no idea what it was, but I knew it was there.
In The Empire, it was the 2nd chapter that really lifted the story. It made the reader 'feel' what the character was experiencing. While it was an uncomfortable feeling, it showed the strength of the writing. Without it, it was just an ordinary story, at least for me.
Well, I finally realize what it is. The greatest lesson I've learned in rewriting these few chapters over and over, is that a writer shouldn't hang onto favorite ideas. It can be detrimental to the health of a story.
Spoiler
On to the solution. Originally I introduced Sester as a mysterious character in a cell. It had a detached feel and the potential for something extremely engaging was missed. Now that I'm introducing Argus as a mysterious character, it made it redundant to do it with Sester too. Plus there is an element of excitement involved with Sester during the escape that was bypassed in the writing, so I am going to change this part of his story line, bring him in much earlier and make his experience much more dynamic and intense.
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