Writing in Sections

My first book ended up having some very long chapter, and paragraphs which I would change now that I have sat back and read it a couple times, and have received feedback from other readers. I’m addressing this in my second book (edit) by breaking up my chapters into sections with subheadings. I thought it too drastic changing it to a short chapter format since the first book is already in print and out of my hands, but to avoid shocking my readers I’m keeping to large chapters with short sections at this point. In my third book in the series, also ready for my edit run, I’m thinking of going down to the short chapter format and stay there throughout the rest of the series.

I am still struggling to make time for my editing/rewrite, but at least with the smaller sections I am able to feel like I’m making more progress while I get back to that place where I’ll fly again. The montage in the first chapter with the working title of “Setting the Stage,” at this point has nearly 95 double spaced pages, but so far at 48 pages I am in my 8^th section. “Julian & Empire,” is little over 1 page; “The Marcian Council,” is 5 pages giving more back history and their current activity; “A Web of Participation,” is 7 pages explaining the players and general situation; “The Pyramid & the Prophecy,” is 11pages on the Imperial Pyramid and Mafdet’s prophecy; “A Havenville Première,” is 9 pages describing the new town and a fantastical vampire performance there; “The Prophecy Confirmed,” is 5 pages explaining the Christians’ excitement about the prophecy; “Home is Where the Heart Is,” is 5 pages diving into the bedroom life of the royal couple; and “The Royal Family, Security & Buster,” is still in the works.

So, some progress is being made, and it has been good for me to share it with you to encourage all of us that it will get done. Those who have read “The Rising of Julian Adams,” will surely recognize names I mentioned; proof that it is the continuing story!

My wife is also slowly typing my old children’s fantasy book which I only have in its typed form (we have no PDF converter to scan it in), but I’m going to be looking around and see if we can find a service that will scan it into a Word document for us. Its titled is, “The Adventures of Shawn,” about him as a young boy in an “Alice in Wonderland” styled book. He will appear later in my current series very grown up with a back story (series) I look forward to writing when this first series is done.

Again, wish me Godspeed for both my sake and yours as my readers and friends!

Update

Through many welcomed interruptions, I have progressed in my own edit run to page 16 of the 1^st chapter.  It’s not far, I know, but let me explain some of what has been happening. My wonderful daughter and her family have uprooted themselves from their nearby home in Long Beach, and moved to Boise, Idaho. It is a big change and ongoing adjustment not having our grandson nearby.

My Pinterest interest has grown as a big player in my cyberspace social networking (http://pinterest.com/richardalanritr/). I have joined a few huge community boards; have several other pinners that I am currently following, and several that are following me. I have tried to design a page that represents my author’s persona, my diversity, and my quirks. But, it takes time which distracts from my writing. It’s hard returning to the writing focus when so many new things have come into my life since my 1^st book was published. As I said before, my second two books in the series are in their draft form. Since that was done, personally marketing my first book to afford publishing my other books took hold. Meanwhile, I necessarily took a break from the edit run. I’ve learned a lot about social networking during this time, and Pinterest has been a new addiction I am trying to check.

Up to page 16 most of the writing has been involved with weaving the second book with the first for readers new and old, brought in the interim period, and have tried during this contextualizing to advance the story. Now I am to a prophecy that will span this and the next two books before it comes to pass. With clear divisions between these three new novels, I have my course set, and am gaining back the enthusiasm to really jump back into a heavy schedule of writing before being distracted by anything else in my daily routine.

 

Writing is a passion, a love affair wondrous with the unfolding of its unique flower, but none-the-less, it is a lot of work.

Again, wish me Godspeed for both my sake and yours as my readers and friends!