Back to the Drawing Board!

I got Transmutation #2 back from First Reader with a big fat note - this doesn't sound like you.

Curious. I was struggling a little with this one. Every day when I sat down to write, I was forcing myself to concentrate on the book. But when I started A Changed World #4, I was having a great time. That should have told me something.

The Transmutation series is based on a very old story with a million characters and dozens of side plots that ramble off in every direction. While trying to slim it down, I'd taken the heart out of it. While I was writing, I started having serious doubts that First Reader confirmed. It's kinda boring.

So I did some thinking about who and what and why. This book was a little too rambling and repetitive because I felt like I needed more time to spread out events and didn't have a subplot in place to make that work.

There's a lot from the original doorstop that just doesn't work anymore and needs to be ditched. But certain plot points are critical to get the story to the important events. I couldn't figure out what to toss and what to keep.

After a lot of juggling I discovered the missing piece, I hope. When I sat down to do the rewrite, I was having a lot more fun. That's got to be a good thing! So I think I'm only behind by a week or so.

Now, back to that rewrite!