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I have made a spreadsheet (of course I've made a spreadsheet) and collated all the feedback commentary on The Mystic Marriage from my beta-readers in response to my detailed topic/character prompt list. (Except for the couple who haven't gotten back to me yet who are in danger of being dropped from future beta-reader lists -- *hint* *hint*.) I have also made a spreadsheet with chapter-by-chapter notes, theirs and mine. Next is to review the topic/character feedback, determine which items need revision versus which are a matter of variable taste, and translate them into chapter-specific revision notes.
That's the complex part. I need a sprinkling of additional references to minor character X involving groundwork for future plot point Y -- when can this occur? I need more explicit build-up of the main couple's attraction to each other (before they know it themselves) -- where can that occur? I need to show the positive aspects of what's driving character A, not just the negative ones -- where can this be fit in?
I've also been thinking over what I want to do about revision to the existing Skin-Singer stories for the collection. Originally I was thinking of just some light cleaning-up and continuity, but with them all in one place (even though I have no plans to try to turn them into a single overall story) it makes sense to add in a little more deep background about the world (to the extent that I know it) to provide more of a sense of place. Things that I didn't know back when I started writing them. Also -- to be blunt -- I'm a better writer now, and it makes sense to try to bring the collection up to my current standard. This makes it a bigger project than it would have been, but it's going to be a bit bigger than I originally thought anyway if I'm going to end up self-publishing it. (With Bella not interested and no functional connection to either of the outfits that put out the Sword and Sorceress series, I really can't see finding a print publisher who would take it.) This means I not only have to worry about issues like formatting, but I need to deal with cover design and so forth. Nothing I want to do sloppily or in a hurry.
And then there are some bits and snippets of Book 3 that I've ben jotting down (in addition to having started on the detailed outline -- much more detailed than any of the previous books). Yes, there is actual text in the file labeled Mother of Souls. Now if only I could think of an name for my second main character!
That's the complex part. I need a sprinkling of additional references to minor character X involving groundwork for future plot point Y -- when can this occur? I need more explicit build-up of the main couple's attraction to each other (before they know it themselves) -- where can that occur? I need to show the positive aspects of what's driving character A, not just the negative ones -- where can this be fit in?
I've also been thinking over what I want to do about revision to the existing Skin-Singer stories for the collection. Originally I was thinking of just some light cleaning-up and continuity, but with them all in one place (even though I have no plans to try to turn them into a single overall story) it makes sense to add in a little more deep background about the world (to the extent that I know it) to provide more of a sense of place. Things that I didn't know back when I started writing them. Also -- to be blunt -- I'm a better writer now, and it makes sense to try to bring the collection up to my current standard. This makes it a bigger project than it would have been, but it's going to be a bit bigger than I originally thought anyway if I'm going to end up self-publishing it. (With Bella not interested and no functional connection to either of the outfits that put out the Sword and Sorceress series, I really can't see finding a print publisher who would take it.) This means I not only have to worry about issues like formatting, but I need to deal with cover design and so forth. Nothing I want to do sloppily or in a hurry.
And then there are some bits and snippets of Book 3 that I've ben jotting down (in addition to having started on the detailed outline -- much more detailed than any of the previous books). Yes, there is actual text in the file labeled Mother of Souls. Now if only I could think of an name for my second main character!
