Monday, May 28, 2012

Putting The Finishing Touches On "The First Dunite Citizen"

I have some things to fix in "The First Dunite Citizen", but it's all logistics at this point.  I just need to make sure that it is consistent with "Heart of Flesh" and "Daughter of the Seven Seas."  Other than that, the story is done.  It also taught me a lot about Max and "The Vigilante", which I will incorporate in "Black Swan Origins: Nineveh."

The editors at Mindflights and Ideomancer have helped me fix the last remaining major flaw in my writing.  When it comes to my short stories, I include way too much backstory.  The editors at these magazines say that this information, while interesting, really slows down the plot.  For that reason, I now include a mini "slash-and-burn" phase where I do nothing but cut out everything that isn't absolutely necessary.  One of the editors at Ideomancer actually gave me this advice and I am extremely grateful for it. 

Once I finish polishing "The First Dunite Citizen", I will return to "Black Swan Origins: Nineveh."  It will be the "fill-in-the-blank" phase, in which I write important scenes to connect the gems which survived the "slash-and-burn" phase.  It worked with "Black Swan Origins: Fionnuala", so I figure it would be a good revision strategy to keep. 

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