Meredith Mansfield, Author

 . . . you set up what kind of story you’re going to tell.

That’s a problem I’ve been having in particular with DREAMER’S ROSE. The story just isn’t everything I want it to be. Either I’m trying for too much or I’m emphasizing the wrong part of the story. Or maybe I’m all wet and just don’t have a clue. It’s possible. Wouldn’t even be the first time. That last isn’t very helpful, though, so I’ll concentrate on the other two possibilities.

So recently I’ve been passing different possible starting points by one of my writer’s groups. This month, they have the last of the four.

1. The first failed utterly. Nobody felt they could connect with the character. Well, that explains why my last draft failed. (It’s the place I’d started the story on the last pass.)
2. The second was flawed, but better. It could be a bit confusing starting with the antagonist, though.
3. The third has so far been the hand’s down favorite, although it clearly still needs work. That sets the beginning of the story back to a much earlier place.
4. The jury’s still out on the fourth. That one pushed the beginning further into the story. (It’s also the closest to where I actually started when I first began this particular story as a short story that grew into a novella that turned into a novel.)

I’m hoping that the feedback on the best place to start will help me figure out what I need to emphasize and what I should jettison to make this story be what I know it can be.