Sunday Salutations and Collaborative Writing
We are in the middle editing our first novel tentatively titled Trials of Taste in our Chef world universe. The current pitch for it is Zelda meets kitchen stadium, where cooking for strangers is reserved for the select few, just as magic is also for the few. (Although it does feel like everyone has magic.) This is the extension of the story we wrote for Writers of Future last year into a full novel.
At the moment, I am just reading through the manuscript and making comments as if I were a beta reader. It is a humbling and amusing experience. I think part of the reason I can do it this way is because I write with Tod. Basically, in this case I wrote draft zero, Tod edited and cleaned up draft zero to make draft one. I am now reading draft one, where I note what needs to be adjusted, and making minor changes before we do any structural overhauling.
The time and distance between when I wrote it, where Tod does his edits, and now, where I edit, makes the editing possible. Also, it helps to have a partner that is writing with me. I didn’t touch this work for six weeks, instead I worked on short stories and our next novel. By Tod working on the story for six weeks or more, I have more distance. It lets me take a step back and read through our own story and mark it up with review comments. The time and space between me and the manuscript means my eyes are fresh, and I get a new view of the novel.
Sadly, that current state needs some structural overhauling. Heinlein is always quoted as saying only revise under editorial mandate. While I like that, in principle, sometimes a book needs a good overhaul. I think especially a first book by a writer. However, I refuse to get stuck in the loop of rewriting a whole novel from scratch, over and over. Or even redoing a scene several times. I think the first step of that is not tearing down a manuscript without a plan of what to change, fix, or keep.
What is not surprising given that Trials of Taste is the first novel length manuscript we have completed, this is a learning experience. Luckily for me, Tod is good at finding ways we can make the least number of changes while still greatly improving the novel. At this point, it means I note the changes needed to make the book more fun, more engaging, and just plain more entertaining. Then we discuss how to get from draft one to draft two with the least number of new scenes or changes. Draft two will then be beta read by some beta readers, revised once more, then sent off into the wilds of a slush pile, while we contrive to build another world in another universe.
Hope everyone had wonderful Sunday, and before I forget Happy Birthday weekend to my friend, science-father, to whom I dedicated my PhD thesis.
