Reading Through

I'm a little over 80% of the way through the read through on the book. It reads better than I thought it would. The plot points that got moved around had me worried that I was writing a train wreck. I feel better now. It feels so much more logical and natural in its progression than I'd feared. There are still things that need to be fixed, of course. The read through isn't for fixing any but the most minor of things like spelling and italicization and dialogue tweaks. Big fixes happen in the next phase.

I'm more encouraged than I thought I'd be. Going over the previous day's work every day instead of jumping into the day's writing gave the rough draft a certain level of polish that makes reading it through easier and makes me feel better about fixes.

One example of something that needs fixing is a scene in which the characters take a break to play a virtual reality fantasy game. The protagonist gets thrown into a dark area where her avatar can't see very well. Later after night falls she realizes that thanks to her character's elvish grandmother she can see in the dark. Hmm. Would it be more suspenseful if she could see in the dark or if she couldn't? I have to sacrifice something to make it consistent. Another thing that needs fixing is a scene in which a space ship is being chased. The pursuing ship drops back a little bit, which is confusing to the protagonist. There's a reason for it that's only revealed later. But. Regardless of the future explanation, does its dropping back drain too much tension from the scene? Does it feel too safe? I need to figure that out.

I need to think through some other things like the protagonist's confidence. It grows through the book. So, she starts out being nervous under pressure, but that diminishes deeper into the book. If the protagonist is worried, the reader is worried. Am I losing more than I'm gaining with that? The reason she's more confident is that her abilities are growing. Is becoming more bad to the bone enough to offset the tension that's lost when the character is not as nervous? I have to make sure it is.

If I work on it this weekend, the read through will be done and the fixing and polishing in full swing. When it's done, the plan is to let it rest at least thirty days. While it's resting, I need to work on the last B'vellah War book. On the side I need to be working on the plot outline for the middle grade trilogy.

Have a great weekend.