Revise, Persevere, or Trash it?

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 7 Comments
Photo Courtesy ofhttp://www.google.com/info.agmednet.com

Photo Courtesy ofhttp://www.google.com/info.agmednet.com

I started writing my first novel, several years ago. Since then, I’ve revised, cut, changed the timeline, and rethought some of the characters in my current work in progress (WIP).

Am I going about the process the right way? Perhaps and perhaps not, opinions differ.

Janice Hardy at Fiction University (a favorite of mine) has a thought-provoking post on this today, “Onward…No? Write to the End or Go Back and Edit.” The reasons, she suggests, writers get into the revision and edit mode  include:

  • The first chapter isn’t where the story starts.
  • The story just isn’t working.
  • You’ve decided the story you’re writing, isn’t the real story.
  • The character you thought was the protagonist isn’t.
  • Or, you’ve studied the craft, learned a few techniques, and want to fix your mistakes.

As part panster and part planner, I’ve experienced all of the above. I do study the craft; I read and sometimes make revisions and edits. I hope my novel will be better for it.

At any rate and well past 30,000 words,  I’m too far to stop now. I plan to see this first draft to fruition.

Want more information on writing a novel, check out these resources:

Janice Hardy’s, Planning Your Novel: Ideas and Structure

Larry Brooks, Story Engineering @ Storyfix.com

C.S. Larkin’s, The 12 Key Pillars of Novel Construction: Your Blueprint for Building a Strong Story

or James Scott Bell’s, Super Structure: The Key to Unleashing the Power of Story

 

A Glint of Hope

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 11 Comments

PHOTO PROMPT – © Santoshwriter

Fred stopped pacing and stared out the window. After three straight days of rain, he watched with growing trepidation, as the sun appeared in a blue sky. Every time it rained three days in a row, something bad happened. “Bad things come in threes,” his mom said. This time he prayed she’d be wrong.

He waited for the doctor to emerge from his wife’s hospital room. “Please God, give me a sign.”

A singular leaf caught his attention. Five clinging drops glinted at him as if in Morse code. Rain. Hearing footsteps, he turned. The doctor was smiling.

 

Friday Fictioneers (hosted by Rochelle)-  100 words or less, inspired by a weekly photo prompt. Check out all the other entries here and be sure to comment.

Three Stars: The Missings

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / Leave a comment

As a nurse, the subject of this mystery thriller by Peg Brantley was of particular interest to me. Detective Chase Waters is on the hunt for a serial killer.  A killer who discards the hacked up bodies of young men and women on the side of the road, minus all vital organs.

The story  takes us to places of ethical and moral dilemmas where you must ask, “Does the end justify the means?”

What would you be willing to do to save a loved one? How far would you go? What  moral, ethical, or legal boundary would you cross for those you love?

I gave this book three stars for several of reasons. It started slow and  some characters were not developed as fully as I would have liked. I had to keep going back and refreshing my memory as to their role. In the end, I didn’t find all the characters  relevant to the story’s plot, and the ending foreshadowed long before it should have been.

Having said that, The Missings is worth the read if you like mysteries and enjoy books that make you ponder the subject long after the last page.

As a Transplantation Nurse, in my previous career, I would be remiss if I did not share with you the importance of organ donation.

“More than 123,000 men, women and children currently need lifesaving organ transplants. Every 10 minutes another name is added to the national organ transplant waiting list. Sadly, an average of 21 people die each day because the organs they need are not donated in time.” (Statistics | Donate Life America)

If you would like more information on becoming a donor, please check out: Organdonor.gov/becomingadonor.

Maggie’s Lesson in Democracy

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 12 Comments

100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups – Week#152     …That’s democracy…

“Mom?”

Nell turned to her thirteen-year-old daughter, Maggie.

“Since we live in a democracy, you know, ‘consent of the governed,’ shouldn’t I get a vote?”

Nell admired her daughter’s spunk. “A vote?”

“I feel like I’m living under autocratic rule with you the self-appointed ruler.”

“I’m your mother and, by law, responsible for you.”

“But…”

“Actually, our democracy is practiced in the form of a republic, which provides checks and balances and an establishment able to thump an unruly mob on its head.”

“Mom!”

“At home, you’re the unruly mob and I’m the check and balances. That’s democracy, sweetheart.”