It’s been a quite while since I posted anything specifically about my Work in Progress, “The Cauldron Trilogy”. I’m happy to say I’ve finished the first draft or the first book, and something I’ve called the “pre-edit”. I’m now working on the first proper edit and taking a more meticulous approach than I’ve done for previous books. This is partly due to all the notes from my pre-edit (thanks pre-edit Wordlander) and because I’m handling a larger array of characters and a number of plot points. If I don’t set up something properly in chapter 2 it might not pay off in chapter 19!
The biggest change I made thanks to the pre-edit, is to drop some character POVs. Most of these, I realise only had a section or two from their perspective and so they had to go. I still think I may have too many (is nine too many?) but we’ll see how it goes.
Another interesting issue was around two characters I struggled to “vibe” with, one being a main POV, the other a background character (but an important one). I couldn’t figure out why I found it difficult to pin them down, until I realised they were quite “passive”. I don’t mean this in a bad way, it was just not a characteristic I’d written much before. Some people are passive, so why shouldn’t story characters be? It doesn’t mean they’re weak or uninteresting, just trickier to place especially amoungst the more strong-minded of my cast. One character unfortunately got the chop, first due to the POV issue mentioned before, then because I realised that characters relationship with another simply wouldn’t have lasted, and thus they wouldn’t be about for proceedings – oops.The other I have re-assessed and fleshed out their background more. I’ve tried to work with their strengths, rather than make them something they’re not.
It’s going to take time to do this second draft, and even though I hate first drafting, this is much tougher. I’m definitely stretching my skills – so it’s all good.
Do you have a current Work in Progress? I’d love to hear how it’s going! Please share in the comments.
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