Everyone needs a vacation

After finishing up edits on II Crimsonstreak and The Franchise, I took a break. I haven't written any new words in about two weeks. Part of it is that I've been trying to figure out what to write next. Part of it is that I've been reading through III Crimsonstreak as I prepare to get notes back from Super Beta Reader Mike so I can get it ready for submission.

I finally settled on what my next project will be. I'm not going to say what it is--it's an existing draft that needs about 30,000 or 40,000 more words--because I want to keep the concept guarded. I downloaded it to my Kindle so I can read it easily. I already know some changes I want to make, but the first order of business will be to read the current draft to re-familiarize myself with the characters and map out the rest of the book.

You see, even though I wrote it, even though I created it, I don't remember 100% of everything in the book. So I have to go back, take notes, check my character beats, and then map out the rest of the book.

My writing vacation, it seems, will soon come to an end.

I have to finish my new work in progress. I need to revise III Crimsonstreak and write the appendices. I want to work on the chapter-by-chapter commentary for II Crimsonstreak. It all starts next week.

To Revisioning and Beyond: Remaking the The Franchise

A few years ago, I wrote a superhero book that was completely different from I, Crimsonstreak. Whereas Christopher Fairborne gives the genre the tongue-in-cheek treatment, this other book (The Franchise) takes a more serious look at the world of superheroes. It's a mix between The Firm and Watchmen set in a retro-futuristic 1960s with pulp heroes thrown in for good measure.

I really believe in this book and its concept. I've worked on it off and on for several years. Based on a pitch, I had an agent request it in 2010. The agent passed.

I've learned a lot more about writing and publishing since then. I'm far from an expert--just ask my publisher about the draft of II Crimsonstreak I submitted--but I'm a better writer than I was in 2010. When that agent passed, I took it hard. It was early in my writing journey, so I felt that was it. The Franchise was a terrible concept and would never work.

After I, Crimsonstreak came out, I started playing with The Franchise some more. I added a new character who's so essential to the book that I don't know how I wrote it without her. I fleshed out the setting--an area I tend to struggle with. I tried to make the main character more of an active part of the story instead of a character who was simply driven by the events around her. I wove in more backstory and added another layer to it.

A draft that was 75,000 became 80,000 words. I didn't cut content as much as I rewrote large sections of text. I created snippets of newspaper copy and text from a company handbook (a concept familiar to anyone who's flipped through Crimsonstreak and its appendices). More satisfied with the direction of the book, I needed a second opinion.

I sent it to my Beta Reader Extraordinaire. This wasn't a high-priority project--I was working on III Crimsonstreak and didn't need immediate feedback--so I told him to take his time. Because he's either partially insane or really, really good at what he does, he sent me pages upon pages of notes. These included suggestions on character arcs as well as things to look at in each chapter.

I went through the feedback and it became clear to me that simply "rewriting existing parts of the book" wouldn't work. Not only did I have a plot MacGuffin that I didn't like, my protagonist still wasn't fully-formed. A major supporting character also ended up being a bit shallow. The novel got too talky at points, so it needed another bit of action. The new character added to the book deserved more scenes and needed to be interwoven into the fabric of the story. The supporting characters--and there were a lot of them--needed to be more memorable.

So, while I haven't been writing anything "new," I have been adding to The Franchise. I'm not ready to give up on it yet because I feel there's a fantastic book hidden in there. The narrative needs to be pulled apart, rearranged, and given several more generous coats of polish. That's what I'm doing now.

In addition to rewriting large sections, I've trimmed a bunch of words and added new scenes. The current draft stands at about 91,000 words. I'm about a third of the way through this latest revision.

It's not always easy to finish a draft of the book and forge ahead with more revisions, but the more you do it, the less you dread it. I've gotten to the point--after getting over the initial shock of "the draft isn't perfect"--where I enjoy revising.

To revisioning and beyond!

Update on projects

Writing production was non-existent last week. I read through some projects but didn't write anything new or revise III Crimsonstreak.

Shame on me.

I'm usually good about writing five or six days a week--it just didn't happen this time. It's okay; sometimes you're going to have a bad week. Usually, I'm able to eke out a few words even when I'm feeling a little stressed out, but I just felt stretched thin. The important thing is not to allow last week's drought to turn into a drought that drags on for several weeks.

I'm working on revisions for III Crimsonstreak tonight. I've also read through The Franchise as notes trickle in from Beta Reader Extraordinaire. I expect to work on final edits for II Crimsonstreak, first draft/revisions for III Crimsonstreak, and reworking of The Franchise simultaneously. This will leave blogging at a premium...and content is at a dearth as it is.

On the plus side, I finished reading Jurassic Park and hope to write a book/movie comparison soon. It won't be comprehensive, but I'd like to talk about the key differences and what I liked/didn't like about each version. I've also started reading Les Miserables to give myself an infusion of the classics.

My reading list is waaaaay too long, FYI.

Beta Readers Assemble!

For the first time ever, I'm proud to announce that I'm utilizing step three on the Peytonometer. In past submissions, I went straight from "Audibles" to "Going Deep." But this week I sent my first assignments to some people who have kindly agreed to critique my work. Let's hear it for the "Beta Reader Handoff!"

If you haven't noticed, I am half-crazy. Or possibly all-crazy (whichever you want to believe). I spent a little time over the weekend trying to figure out a way to thank my kind and benevolent beta readers (they are kind and benevolent until they actually send back their critiques, of course). My best idea: who doesn't love a t-shirt?

Then, I got even more ridiculous. In my book The Franchise, superpowers play a big role. Employees of OMNI Corporation have one of a range of abilities. Those who control fire are called "Crispers," those with power over ice & water, "Cubers," those with the power of flight, "Gliders," and so on. The OMNI uniforms are yellow; I thought it'd be fun to have an OMNI "uniform" t-shirt. The design is obviously very basic, but it was something to have fun with...