Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 7 Comments

Dreaded point

I have reached the point I dreaded the most. Despite my planning and all the outlining I did a year ago when I started drafting the Darkening, I’ve come to the conclusion that I have to delete part of the plot. I was just about to finish editing chapter 25 (past the midpoint of the book) when I realised that a part of the plot was weak, irrelevant and as such it had to go. Now I have to go back and re-revise and re-rewrite 25 chapters (I’ve been rewriting and revising for the past 4 months, so…), and change some of the causes and their effects that make up the plot, so the project makes sense again. The funny thing is, chapter 25 was supposed to be the place where that particular plot arc would come to an end. What was that you said? Better late than sorry? Well, it couldn’t get any later than that! Actually, it could, but I’d rather not think about it. Remember last week when I said I hoped I’d have the MS ready for the betas by the end of summer or early autumn at the latest? Yeeeeaah…. no.

Anyway, it’s Easter Sunday for us Greek Orthodox, which as far as festive days go, it’s the biggest and most important. I’m off to continue with the celebration 🙂

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Status update

I’ve been editing/revising my novel The Darkening for a few months now and I’m one chapter short of reaching the midpoint. So far, I’ve rewritten every single chapter. If I was to copy/paste the sentences that didn’t get altered, I doubt they would fill more than maybe two A4 pages. Maybe. So, technically, I’ve spent the last few months writing. Or rewriting, whichever way you want to see it.

It’s really amazing how much my style has changed in just one year, but I think the current version is better. *Chris leans over and whispers in your ear, “much, much better.”* The sentences are tighter, I’ve tamed my former nemesis of constantly using  “as” and “-ing” (but still not as much as I’d like), and the word count has dropped significantly (in some cases by as much as 1200 words per chapter, though I have to tighten it even further). I have also added more of the main character’s mood and voice through the prose. So far, nothing major story-wise has changed.

If everything goes as planned, I should have it ready for my two betas by the end of summer or early autumn. If they have any ideas about the story and other plot changes I should make, I will do them afterwards, during the second round of edits.

Other than that, I’ve started accumulating a few rejections for some new short stories, so I guess it’s business as usual 😛