critiques | Meredith Mansfield, Author

Posts Tagged ‘critiques’

This and That

Posted in writing, tagged conflict, Cover Art, critiques, e-publishing, fantasy, Multiple Projects, revisions, sequels, series, writing on July 5, 2015| Leave a Comment »

I’ve finally made progress on the blurb for BEYOND THE PROPHECY.

It isn’t finished, yet. It still needs some tightening, but I’ve finally got something I can work with:

The foundations of Vatar’s world are unraveling.

Being one of a handful graced—or cursed—with both kinds of magic makes Vatar the target of those who think he’s too dangerous.

The Council that rules his adopted city has guaranteed safety for him and his family in return for his promise not to expose their secrets. But they’ve already failed to keep their part of the bargain.

One Council member sees him as an obstacle to furthering her power. Gerusa launches an unsanctioned attack on Vatar and his family. When that fails, she is forced to flee the city.

But that’s far from the end. Even from exile, Gerusa exerts influence, causing the city to churn with unrest and uncertainty. It’s clear that her goal is to unseat the Council and replace it with herself as sole ruler.

Unable to trust the Council, Vatar sets out to stop her.

But when he’s captured, he’ll be forced to prove his boast that it’s impossible to imprison anyone who can do what he can—or die.

The key was to focus on the central conflict.

I’ve also finished marking up the revision notes. One of the things I know is that I need to center the manuscript more on the central conflict. (Maybe not surprising that I had trouble with the blurb, then, huh?) There is a central conflict, but other things are happening, too. Things that lead up to the conflict in the fourth and final book in the DUAL MAGICS series. I just need to make sure that the main conflict of this story gets center stage.

A bit later today, it will be time to dig in and start the final revisions. Once I have a handle on that, I’ll be able to set the release date. The target is still September.

I also now have a new cover for “Modgud Gold“.

That ties in with the series much better.

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In Transition

Posted in writing, tagged Cover Art, critiques, e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, Goals, Multiple Projects, revisions, sequels, series, writing on July 2, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Well, that what happens after school gets out for the summer, disrupting my routine. I completely lost track and forgot to blog yesterday. Catching up today.

So, I’m now in the mode of switching from starting the first draft of DUAL MAGICS BOOK 4 (title to be determined) to making the final revisions on BEYOND THE PROPHECY (Book 3).

I’m currently making revision notes, chapter by chapter, based on the three critiques I’ve received from my beta readers. (One critique is still out, but she told me in the beginning that she’d need extra time.) But, if I’m going to have this ready to publish in September, I’ve got to get started.

A lot of the revisions will be relatively small. A little more context or background in a few places. Some things may get shifted around.

And not throwing out so many names all at once. That’s a big one right at the beginning. Starting sequels is hard partly because I already have all these characters. They’ve all been introduced in the earlier books. But that doesn’t mean I can name eight of them right at the beginning without expecting to confuse the reader. Yet, I have to identify them before the action starts, which is in Chapter 1. Well, I’ll work that out, too.

There are a few larger issues I’ll have to work on throughout the manuscript, too. Like doing a better job of centering the story on the main conflict.

Then there’s the blurb. That’s really been fighting me this time around. I’ll get it eventually.

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New Covers

Posted in writing, tagged Cover Art, critiques, e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, Goals, Learning, marketing, Multiple Projects, revisions, sequels, series, writing on June 28, 2015| Leave a Comment »

I have a new cover for “Becoming Lioness” now. It looks more like it belongs with the series and might even give a reader the idea that it’s a fantasy story.

For reference, the old cover looked like this:

“Modgud Gold” has proven to be more difficult. But, thanks to some helpful internet friends, I think I finally have a direction to go.

Meanwhile, progress on the still-untitled Book 4 of the DUAL MAGICS series continues. Though, by next week I expect I’ll be ready to set it aside for a short time while I take care of revisions and polishing edits on BEYOND THE PROPHECY so I can publish that in September.

And, I’ve started writing out a concept for another story. Like I don’t already have several in the pipeline. But you’ve got to write down the ideas when they come to you or risk losing them. And nobody wants that.

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Plotting

Posted in writing, tagged critiques, e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, inspiration, Multiple Projects, revisions, sequels, series, writing on June 21, 2015| Leave a Comment »

We all know by now that I’m a discovery writer. (Unless this is your first time visiting my blog. In which case, welcome.)

But, however I write them, all stories have plots. Sometimes, I just arrive at the plot backwards. Sometimes not.

I’ve also said that the only time I really get detailed plot ideas is when I’m actually writing–just in the quiet times when I step away from writing for a few minutes.

Well, last Friday seems to have been a day for that. I didn’t actually get much writing done on Friday, but I did get solutions to three plot issues–two for Book 4 of the DUAL MAGICS series and one for the final revisions to BEYOND THE PROPHECY (Book 3).

For BEYOND THE PROPHECY, it was an issue raised by one of the two critiques I’ve gotten back so far. I figured out how to refocus certain elements of the story to help the plot be more centered. So that’s good.

The second idea was about something in the first chapter of Book 4. It’s a minor thing, really. A bit of background. But I realized that it’s probably not very accurate. I’m not sure exactly what I’ll do with that bit, yet. I don’t go backwards in the first draft unless it’s something really major. I make notes of things I need to look at in the second draft. I’ve made such a note and I’m sure I’ll find something that will work better by the time I get to it.

The big plot idea, though, was about the climax of Book 4. See, I know what the climax is (unless another, better idea comes along first–which I doubt.) But for what I have planned to work out, my main characters have to be forced to do something that they wouldn’t otherwise choose to do. And the logical way for that to happen is for the antagonists to do something that implies knowledge of one of the two kinds of magic. Or, at least, the basis of that magic. The kind of magic that the antagonists don’t know about. Hmm. That’s a conundrum. But now I know how they’re going to learn just enough for them to do what I want them to.

What makes a discovery writer is that we’re willing to jump into the story anyway, even with a gaping plot hole like that, and have faith that we’ll figure it out by the time we get there. Moments like Friday are what feed that faith.

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Backstory

Posted in writing, tagged critiques, e-publishing, fantasy, Learning, revisions, sequels, series, world building, writing on June 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Backstory is such a delicate line to walk. How much is too much? What serves to add verisimilitude? Which bits enrich the story and which just drag the pace down? How can it be brought in elegantly?

I know the history of my world for the DUAL MAGICS series and how it got to be the way it is at the beginning of the story, but only snatches of that have made their way into the story so far. (Some day, I may write a prequel series about all of that.) For now, I try to keep to just what is needed for this story. But it looks like I haven’t put in quite enough.

I can’t emphasize the importance of critiques enough. Beta readers can tell me things about my story that I can’t see because, no matter how hard I try, I’m just standing too close. The first of my critiques for BEYOND THE PROPHECY has come in.

Among other things, it’s clear that I need to work in more background on part of this world. There are places where I can do that, I think, without slowing the story down.

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Round One Complete

Posted in writing, tagged critiques, e-publishing, fantasy, revisions, sequels, series, writing on May 3, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Yesterday, I finished the first round of revisions on BEYOND THE PROPHECY.

There are probably two more to go before I turn it over to beta readers in June.

During June, I can start the fourth–and final–book in this series. (Final, unless I decide to write the prequel stories at some point in the future.

Then July and August for the revisions coming out of the critiques and the polishing edit. And I’m on schedule for releasing BEYOND THE PROPHECY in September.

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Revision Ups and Downs

Posted in writing, tagged conflict, critiques, e-publishing, fantasy, revisions, sequels, series, writing on April 22, 2015| Leave a Comment »

I started the revisions on BEYOND THE PROPHECY just about a week ago.

I’ve made really good progress up ‘til now. I’m on Chapter 25 of (currently) 51.

Honestly, the most major change I’ve had to make so far—other than adding some details and punching up the emotions in a couple of places—was to delete part of a few scenes since I’d decided that a couple of characters weren’t there after all. Not too big a deal.

Not that I’ve addressed everything in those first 24 chapters. There are things I left for a later pass because I hadn’t decided quite what to do with them yet. And there will still be the need to edit for more setting details in some areas. (Always something I tend to gloss over in a first draft.)

But I’ve just arrived at the part of the story that’s going to need more work. The part I wasn’t happy with in the first draft anyway. It’s always the middle, isn’t it? I know what needs to be done—generally. But now I have to do it. New scenes. At least one new chapter. New emotional conflict—can always use more of that in the middle. This part will be almost like going back to the first draft.

But the story will be so much better for it.

Once I get through this, hopefully the rest will be more of a downhill slide. Then at least two more revision passes until I’ll be glad to close it up while my trusted beta readers have it. Then I’ll know how well I did.

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2015 Writing Goals

Posted in writing, tagged critiques, e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, Middle Grade, Multiple Projects, revisions, sequels, series, short stories, writing, Young Adult on December 31, 2014| 2 Comments »

For 2015 my writing goals are:

BEYOND THE PROPHECY (Book 3 of the Dual Magics series): Finish the first draft. Revise. Get critiques. Revise again. Polish. Format. And Publish.
Tie-in Dual Magics short stories: “Modgud Gold”, “Hunter and Huntress”, possibly “The Seeker”. These stories expand on the events of the novels. Some things that there just wasn’t room for in the novels. Often from the point of view of side characters.
MAGE STORM: my middle grade adventure fantasy. There’ll be at least two periods when I need to let BEYOND THE PROPHECY rest so I can come back to it with fresh eyes. During one of those, I want to go back over this story. Possibly change the age of the main character. Then give it a try with a small press.
DAUGHTER OF THE DISGRACED KING: This one is complete and ready to go. I’ll query it for a little longer, but there’s also a good chance I’ll just decide to go ahead and publish it myself.
BOOK 4 of the Dual Magics series (No title yet): Start the first draft for publication likely in 2016.
At some point, I’m likely going to need to go play in a different sandbox for a while to keep things fresh. That will likely mean work on either DREAMER’S ROSE or that weird Oz story that’s been tickling around in the back of my brain for a while now.

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Back to the Drawing Board

Posted in writing, tagged critiques, e-publishing, fantasy, revisions, sequels, series, writing on October 26, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Well, not all plans work out. I last posted about my plans for chapters seven, nine, and what was then ten (now eleven) of THE VOICE OF PROPHECY.

Chapter Seven worked out pretty well, I think. Chapter Nine didn’t. I followed my plan with the mini-flashbacks and still just wasn’t in love with the result. So, I went back to the drawing board.

Chapter Nine had three main parts (which were not necessarily separate scenes). The last, which is now a separate chapter, allows one character to reflect on what had just happened and reveals to the reader a few things this character knows or suspects that he hasn’t–yet–shared with the others. That stayed. It had to be a separate chapter because it needs to be in his POV and the rest of the chapter isn’t anymore.

Right before that is a discussion of the current problem, along with a magical experiment to test a hypothesis. That has been revised a bit, but basically remains intact.

The first part, though, was mainly a retelling of something that had happened in the first book, THE SHAMAN’S CURSE.

That part is what needed work. The mini-flashbacks helped liven it up, but just not enough. So the next thing to do was decide just what I needed out of that part.

Now, because this is book two of a four-book series, sometimes I need to include things that aren’t immediately important, but will become important. (Like Harry Potter had to go through Professor Lockhart’s Dueling Club in order to learn the expelliarmus charm that he would ultimately use to defeat Voldemort.) But, you know, I don’t necessarily have to spend pages to establish it.

I’d already added a short “The Story So Far” at the beginning of the book. So, the information is there for anyone who needs a refresher–or who didn’t read the first book. What I chiefly need that part for is to expose an unusual magical gift that Vatar possesses and that he hasn’t had a reason to bring up before now. (Like Harry doesn’t think it’s unusual to be able to talk to snakes, until Ron and Hermione tell him.) And I found a way to fold that into the second part above. So the whole retelling can be cut to just the parts where the retelling is interrupted by one of the listeners for clarification. Much better.

Now it’s on to Chapter Eleven and what can be cut from there. I suspect a great deal can be included just by a quick reference later, rather than drag the reader through it.

The point is to get to where things really start moving quicker.

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The Key

Posted in writing, tagged characters, critiques, e-publishing, fantasy, inspiration, Learning, sequels, series, writing on October 15, 2014| 2 Comments »

As I start on the revisions to THE VOICE OF PROPHECY,

I stumbled on this series of posts about character arc and suddenly the whole thing becomes clear. It gave me the key to some issues I was wrestling with. I now know what needs to be emphasized.

The linked articles outline a version of the three-act structure which actually breaks the character arc into four parts. Coincidentally, DUAL MAGICS is a four-book series and fits this structure remarkably well.

I love serendipity. Moving forward with more confidence now.

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