Making a Start.

Chapter One Revision

So, I’m finally getting around to starting the first revision of the book, and my first impression is

this is going to be harder than I thought

Harder Work.

Why? First up, there are a number of things I wrote that made sense to me at the time but which aren’t quite so clear now. Some colloquialisms that perhaps aren’t obvious and the identities of certain characters who, while part of the story, play no direct role in the plot but still need to be treated and identified better than they have been.

Darn Those Threads.

Secondly, there are a couple of threads I’d like to weave back in through the story, but where and how to include them is – at least for now – a puzzle.  Some things need to be subliminally mentioned and right now they’re not mentioned at all.

Continuity Announcement.

Thirdly, I’m already aware of some continuity issues. The age of one of the characters became critically important for elements of the story to be appropriately impactful, so that was changed at least twice in the initial draft and will need to be properly addressed in this revision, but how I make sure that I’m being consistent across the board is another matter. Some might be glaring, for instance if Tom Jones was a six-foot axe murderer at the beginning of a story it should stand out if, at the end, he reappears as a five-foot iced-cream salesman. I’m not currently aware of any issues that could compromise the plot, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t exist.

Going About Things the Wrong Way?

Apart from all that, I might be going about things completely the wrong way. The plan is to review the story from as high a level as possible and then return once more at a lower level before attempting to actually change anything.

What I mean is that right now I’m intending to concentrate on whether the over-arching story makes sense to begin with, before worrying about the details. But it’s hard to ignore prose that doesn’t work or the idea that my descriptions are inconsistent.

The Perfect is the Enemy of the Done.

The plan is probably flawed. I’m probably too easily distracted by things that won’t make much difference at this stage. With  everything else I’m trying to achieve, the time I have available is limited.

But I am at least moving forward, warts and all.

I just hope there’s enough ‘and all‘ to go with all these warts…

Categories: Readthrough, The Old Man, Work Update