CONTACT ME

Fans, friends, and anyone else can use the following address to send me email: kfauthor@gmail.com

Whether it's a comment you don't wish to post in front of everyone or a request for information, I will monitor this address and try to follow up to those indicating they wish a reply. (Please, no spam. I just want to make it easy to communicate.)

IMPORTANT - email addresses are ONLY used to respond to messages, and are NOT sold or used for any other purpose.

Monday, June 18, 2012

My Capricious Muse

Finished the first pass over "Dabblers" today, and suddenly, I face a dilemma. The original manuscript was finished in 2008 and went through a few edits in attempts to get it published. As noted in an earlier post, I picked it up again following the completion of  "Game Faces" because I thought it warranted another shot at seeing the light of day (or at least, computer and ereader screens).

My dilemma? "Dabblers" did not excite me, and darned if I know why. One publisher I submitted "Dabblers" to in an earlier phase said the characters were sort of flat, and I think I might understand what she meant. I did attempt to beef up the conflicts somewhat although I may have gotten too involved with style and dropped the ball on that aspect somewhere in the middle chapters. The original inspiration for the story was to do a sort of cozy mystery but with elements of psychic occurrences and pagan religions. I wanted to treat those themes in a way which could really happen, and perhaps the end result is too subtle. The story has its share of action with a couple of life-threatening passages in the climactic scenes, but I didn't get a rush, a chill, some reaction when I read those passages. I can still get a fleeting dose of excitement from my published novels which have been worked on just as much as "Dabblers" if not more. Methinks I may have to give this one some additional thought. So much for the guidance of my muse in attacking a rewrite.

Interestingly enough, while working on "Dabblers," what has dominated my flights of imagination is a third entry into the "Faces" series. The basic concept I had in mind when I started on "Dabblers" and which I decided was not well-formed enough has blossomed. I have some really good scenes, and while I don't have an idea for how it ends on the horizon (I almost never do when I start a novel), I know the general direction. A long time ago, I read a book about writing fiction which suggested seven questions for plotting:

  1. Who is this character?
  2. What does he/she want?
  3. What stands in the way of him/her getting it?
  4. What does he/she do to overcome this obstacle?
  5. What is the result of this action?
  6. What showdown does this lead to?
  7. What is the outcome?
 I think it was something like that. Usually, I get to around question 4 and find I have so many ideas that I can't wait to start. So I do.

So that's where my muse has led me. One day, I'm sure I'll be looking at "Dabblers" again. Who knows? When I reach the "stuck place" in the next "Faces" book, I may suddenly be inspired with how to fix "Dabblers."

No comments:

Post a Comment