Work proceeds on "Dabblers." Up to Chapter 11 which is something of a turning point. While I would not categorize this project as a "major" rewrite, there is a lot of stuff to polish and/or fix. I actually caught an anachronism in Chapter 1. A character parks his car at the bottom of a long driveway but at the end of the scene, it's at the top! Oops.
"Dabblers" also offers the tricky business of including a fair amount of knowledge on certain subjects. I try to stick to the really necessary details without going overboard--a practice I've seen best-selling authors get away with but which strikes me as showing off how much research they did. The "ain't it cool?" effect. If it doesn't move the story or foreshadow something to come, out it goes. It can be hard to do, but let's face it, the writer may be fascinated by subject matter woven into the story but will never know if readers find it boring and tedious. As stated, I've caught some big-name authors including too much detail, almost as if they were stretching the length of the book by it, and it hit me as contrived. Learn from your own mistakes but never miss the chance to learn from the mistakes of others.
In between, I've been creating signs for the upcoming Glen Ellyn BookFest. I get half of a banquet table, i.e., 3 1/2 feet of front edge, which I plan to use as many inches of as I can. Another sign for the top of the table with the price on it. I'm using Photo Shop to create the signs and hopefully will come out with something fairly professional looking.
Still have not heard back from Write Words about status of "Game Faces." I suspect vacations might be involved.
No comments:
Post a Comment