Meredith Mansfield, Author

Yesterday, I finally got back to MAGE STORM.  I know, I know, I said back to new writitng.  But there’s so much material that needs to be added in the second draft, it’s really more new writing than revisions. 

So far, in fact, I’m pretty happy with everything that I wrote in the first draft.  The first couple of pages have gotten good responses on the new David Farland’s Writers’ Groups, so I think I’m on the right track.  There are just a number of places that need to be expanded, which is almost the same as writing the first draft, except this time I have a much more detailed structure to work in.  That’s what I’m focusing on in this draft.

1. I need to expand the main character’s journey a little at the beginning.  He needs a few more adventures before he arrives at what he thinks is his destination.  This will give him a reason to be glad to get there and not notice that there’s something fishy for a couple of days.  It will also give me a chance to foreshadow the existence of certain creatures in this world so they don’t just pop out of nowhere in the last third of the book.
2. I need to spend more time developing the friendships between the main character and his sidekicks. 
3. I really need to spend more time developing the antagonist, his menace, and his motives.  I know what they are.  I need to put it in the story.  This is typical for me between the first and second drafts.  I almost always concentrate on the main character in the first draft and neglect his opposition.  The antagonist gets better treatment in the second draft.
4. I think I need to spend a little more time with the mentor character, too.  I just have to do it in a way that doesn’t slow down the plot too much.
5. I need to bring out the inherent conflict that remains in the falling action after the climax.  It’s there.  It gets resolved.  I just haven’t fully developed it in the first draft.

So, that’s mostly new writing, even if it is a second draft.

Meanwhile, I’m continuing revisions on DREAMER’S ROSE (which may end up getting recast into a YA novel, too) and THE IGNORED PROPHECY, as well as one of my short stories.