Running with reviews

The editing of Dragonhoard is coming along. Not fantastic, not terrible; just sorta...there. It's an odd experience in that, I am preparing to try to sell this piece of writing to the public. That is somewhat daunting and overwhelming since, in the past, my biggest audience has been my family, teachers, and a group of twenty-some writers, teachers, musicians, and artists (called Ekphrasis) who gather to peer-review each others' work. 

That being said, I have given Dragonhoard to several friends to read and asked that they give me their honest opinions, recommendations, and desires for it as readers. I have had feedback from a few friends about it, but one in particular was especially helpful.

This past Tuesday, I went to AM's house, not quite sure what to expect. She is well-read and especially enjoys fantasy, fairy tales, and fairy tale retellings. Dragonhoard is a retelling of the classic Beauty & the Beast story, which has always been my favorite fairy tale. Considering that AM was almost over-qualified to peer-review my novel, I was nervous about how drastic her suggestions would be. 

To my amazement and excitement, AM had compiled a document for me as she read Dragonhoard. After each chapter, she wrote down her immediate thoughts, questions, and typos she had found. She gave me a printed copy of this document (titled First Read), and we went though it, chapter by chapter, discussing pros and cons of everything she had noted. 

Many of her initial questions were answered later in the book, and some of her comments were encouraging and insightful (i.e. first impressions of characters, guessing at where the plot was going). AM's questions were also insightful, letting me know where I needed to give my audience more detail or hash out a conflict that was going on. As we discussed her thoughts, AM was able to ask me questions which helped me to hash out plot points that NEED to be changed. :) Then, at the very bottom of the wonderful First Read paper, AM had listed problems within the plot that were never resolved, how long it took her to read the entire first draft, and a summary of her overall experience. 

Needless to say, I was incredibly overwhelmed with gratitude at the time and effort AM had taken to give me the most helpful feedback she could. Her First Read is going to be an incredible help to me as I continue the process of editing Dragonhoard, and I can only thank God that I have such wonderful friends. 

Till next week, then, friends.

Edit, edit, edit

Today I begin a long journey. Or, rather, I should say that I will begin the second part of a long journey. This is it. Here is where it starts. Today is the day I begin editing my novel. 

Over the past two years, I have written a novella retelling the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast. Currently my word count is a little over 40,000 words and I have 20 chapters (and an epilogue). As someone who has never competed a full story before, I have been overwhelmed with the thought of editing my book. However, several of my friends have written books in the past year and are currently in the editing process. If they can do it, so can I. Right?

I don't especially have any particular goals for this blog...if you stick around to read it, I will most likely be hashing out my frustrations, elation, and overall experience of editing my own book. So let's get to work. 

#thingsPeterJacksonmissed

I would like to clear up some of the confusion I have encountered since embarking on my epic journey of #‎thingsPeterJacksonmissed‬ . Here goes:

1. I love the books. And I love the movies.
2. I love the books more than the movies.
3. I understand (although not from experience), that it is difficult to adapt a book into a film and that certain things need to be left out or changed. 
4. I understand (but am totally frustrated by), the fact that the media caters to our culture (hence Kili and Tauriel).
5. I often have a hard time discussing LOTR with others since my thoughts get confused and all that comes out of my mouth is a jumble of excitement and complaints.

Therefore, I decided to read through the books (just LOTR...I wouldn't attempt The Hobbit), and tweet all my frustrations. This once, I am going to let everyone know what I think. I have begun to qualify them as I tweet. There are five levels of anger I have to choose from:

‪#‎NotThatMad‬
‪#‎Moderatelyupset‬
‪#‎PrettyTickedOff‬
‪#‎NeverForgivePJ‬
‪#‎FaramirsSecretWimpyTwinKillsLOTR‬

The first two really mean that

1. I understand why they were omitted and/or changed
2. I can do without.

The last three speak for themselves, I believe. But just in case...

1. I think they are essential to the plot
2. The movie version was stupid/annoying/disrespectful to Tolkien's amazing epic
3. They might not have been necessary to the plot, but give so much more depth to the world and tale as a whole.

I hope this helps ya'll understand where I'm coming from with this project (yes, I've been planning this since September...), and what my goals are. I mean, mostly I just want to get it all off my mind so that if someone asks me what my frustrations are, I can point them to the hashtag. smile emoticon So, I hope you enjoy the rest. Believe me, there are many more to come...

Namaarie!