After two weeks and two days of travel, I’m so happy to be home! It is time to revise the second novel in the Antidiluvian Adventures series: The Seagull Rebellion. Actually it is past time for this revision. I wrote the first draft in 2002!
Now that I’ve got a publication strategy for the series I’m motivated to finish the project. There are four novels – three of which are still in first draft form. Today I revised book two, chapter one, and I expect to have this revision complete by the end of November.
I’m not doing NaNoWriMo writing again this year. I have too many other projects backed up with no real need for another new manuscript to add to the pile! I do, however, intend to do it next year. I’ll most likely write Perfection at that time. That will give me another twelve months to work on history, research, characterization, and plotting issues. Historical novels take more care because the facts are so important!
Today’s trip into the world of Valeka, the ancient city The Seagull Rebellion takes place in and near, had me tearing into chapter one with a vengeance. I re-wrote the first paragraphs, included new material, and deleted three pages off the end. They were more suitable to a novelist’s notes than to a first chapter.
Brevity is better, especially when writing for young people! This novel is intended to be lower-YA (ages around 12 to 15).
Chapter one sets up the action that will start in chapter two. Without the explanation of motivations in chapter one, the next part wouldn’t even make sense. So I’m deviating a bit from having the main action start at the first paragraph in the novel. Since chapter one is now less than 700 words, I think it will be fine.
Not much else to tell you about today’s revision. The novel is the second in the series. The first novel in that series, The Scribe of Irohila, should be published within a few months.
Leave a Reply