Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Update

I got most of the beta’s feedback and I’m currently into heavy editing mode. I mean I was in heavy editing mode ever since I finished drafting it and decided to re-write The Darkening (twice, mind you), but now I’m really into HEAVY editing mode. I feel like this, this new round of edits is the real deal, the “make me or break me,” kind of thing. This is when I will actually WRITE the book. After all, writing is editing. And while I should be more than excited, not only for getting constructive feedback (every one of my betas pointed out things I had missed completely and they all reached to the same conclusions), but for finally being a few steps away from the final stretch (of this round, of course), alas I lack the motivation to do it. It’s as if I flipped a switch at some point in my head and I considered the work done and done, even though I consciously reminded myself time and again that it was only the beginning. The funny thing is that I’m at the point where I have to read the whole book and do only yet very important two things: reduce the excessive explanations (aka overwriting) and tame some of the descriptions. Once I hurdle over these two things, it’s the minor, though even more important, details I have to fine tune. I already managed to condense the first 7 chapters into 4, and I reduced the total word count by 6K+ words (and every writer knows how hard it is to have to murder our darlings). And I did it with no problem or hesitation, only to find myself unmotivated to cut back on the unnecessary fluff. The fluff! Sometimes I really hate the way my mind behaves. I’m telling you, if I hadn’t developed a daily writing/editing routine by now, I would have abandoned and shelved the Darkening (shame on you, Chris, for even thinking about it!).

No, I can’t do that. It’s my baby, my firstborn. I want to see it reach perfection 🙂

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

It’s time for the beta readers

Well, the MS has spread its wings and is now away from the nest. Cliche metaphor, I know, but it’s true. It’s in the hands of the beta readers now (thank you all so much for helping out). So far, one of my betas has finished it and raised some valid questions (not to mention the typos that still made their way into the MS, even after all the editing). This is the first time since I started working on it that someone other than me is reading it, an exciting and scary notion. I sent my beta readers a rather long questionnaire to fill (if any of you is reading this, I’m really sorry, but it had to be done) with some 80-90 questions, with YES and NO, and ratings from 1-5, and “other comments” they wanted to add, AND on top of that a critique sheet for those who wanted to say more than a mere comment. I don’t know how they put up with me.

So, now I’m doing my best not to eat my fingernails to their roots, and the best way to do that is to plot the next novel-length story. It’s a sci-fi/cyberpunk story with some mystery elements. I’ve never tried something like that before, so I’m trying to figure things out from a very early stage and save myself all the trouble I had to go through with The Darkening (you may remember I rewrote the book twice after the first draft). I’m working on background stories for everything and everyone, and I’m often working as if I was “reverse engineering” things. Basically I start with where the situation is at the time of the story as well as where will end up by the end of the book, and work backwards in a logical way (e.g. Company Conglomerates own the government. How did this happen? Companies bailed the governments out. Why? Governments went bankrupt. Why? and so on). That’s all world-building, which is fine. My problem is dealing with the mystery element, since I have never tried something similar. I need to insert certain key clues for the main character to find at regular intervals, and their revelation has to come in the most natural way, instead of giving the impression I forced the character to a conclusion. I’m also concerned whether or not the story I have come up with so far is long enough for a novel, AND to make things worse, I also have no ending. I have no idea how the book will end.

What I do know, is that I like this story a lot, and I feel it has potential. I think I even have a title for it. It’s the mystery aspect I’m not sure how to handle correctly.

In other news, I’m collecting a fair amount of rejections for my short stories, so I guess it’s business as usual.

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Hello once again

I’m back. I hope you all had a wonderful summer, and that you recharged your inner batteries. I know I’m late on posting (it’s been two months since my last post) but a lot of things have happened since then and it was hard to keep up with everything.

One of them was my father’s accident. He slipped and broke his leg almost a month and a half ago, so I had to take over most of the things he was dealing with. That meant hardly any time left for me. Luckily, he narrowly escaped surgery to reset the bone, despite the fact that he completely disregarded his doctors’ orders (and still does). Thanks to his surprisingly speedy mending process, and taking into account his age, what appeared to be a long rehabilitation period (doctors initially estimated it would take him around three months before they removed the cast), will most probably barely exceed a two-month period, if his bone continues to mend as fast as it does.

So, the one month I was supposed to use to polish my novel went out the window. BUT!! I did manage to finish editing most of it. In fact, I’m working on a printed version of it, where I’ll do the last edits before I sent it to my beta readers. See the photo? That’s it!

The Darkening

I got to tell you, it felt good holding it in my hands like that. Funny, it’s not even the final version, but it sure is nice to see it and hold it, you know? It makes it more real, more tangible. That’s something the digital medium will never achieve. Not for me, at least. It’s a strange feeling of mixed awe, pride, and fear, probably because I know there’s only one more step before someone else gets to read it, with the explicit instruction to find and point out even the slightest mistake. It’s daunting, but exciting too, because after their input, I will have a better manuscript in my hands. Thanks to my beta readers, I will have the chance to improve my craft. I know for a fact there’s a lot of space for improvement.

Funny fact: I’ve been editing, revising, and rewriting it for the past nine months (I actually rewrote the book twice; once for a better Point of View, the other to improve the story). 2/3 down the road of editing it with my trusty red pen, and I realise there’s more red ink on the pages than black. Makes me wonder, what on earth have I been editing all this time?!

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 4 Comments

On vacation

I’ve decided to take some time off from blogging, at least until the end of August. The Darkening is progressing fine, but I need to spend more time with it and polish it more. I corrected the plot holes I found, rewrote more than three quarters of it because of those holes, adjusted the main character’s voice throughout the novel (or at least I think I did, which by itself forced me to rewrite the entire novel once more – so basically I rewrote the Darkening almost twice), and now I need to look over the small details, mostly continuity issues. Then it’s a matter of beautifying it (or rather be a bit more descriptive here and there). By my estimate, I should have it ready for the betas on schedule, with a bit of luck perhaps a little earlier. However, given that I’ve already shifted my own deadline once (which is something I hate doing), and I still have to work on my cellphone instead of my pc, I think it’s best for me to focus on the novel for the next couple of weeks.

Summer is still with us, so have fun, enjoy yourselves, and I’ll see you all again in September (hopefully with an update on the novel, perhaps an excerpt).

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

The Darkening: getting to know the characters – The girl

Who are you? What are you doing here? Wait, wait, don’t kill me! I just want some food, that’s all. Stay back, don’t come closer. I’ll… I’ll… I’ll stab you, I swear it. The glass will cut you in no time, you hear? Stay back. That’s better. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if I have to. All I want is some food. Do you have any? Look, I’m not going to hurt you, unless you attack me, okay? What’s that? What’s that in your hand? Is it… is it food? Just that? Half a raw rat? Okay. I’m so hungry. Feels like I haven’t eaten in days.

Why are you looking at me like that? No, I don’t know why I am like that. I just am. Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. You’re the first person I’ve seen in days. Everything is empty. Not a single soul for miles. What’s going on? I saw houses and farms on my way here, but there was no one living there. It’s as if everyone vanished. I thought this place was empty, was looking for something to eat and a place to sleep. I didn’t mean to scare you.

I came by a house on my way here. It was a big white house, with two rows of windows, all of them smashed though, and the place looked like it was about to fall apart. I went inside, called for help. I was hungry. They had a pen but there were no animals. Some chickens ran around free, but I couldn’t catch any of them. Fast birds. I saw… I saw remains, bones and… and… What happened? On my way here, I saw a wide road, full of rusted cars and everyone in them…

There are big structures to the east, I saw them on my way here. Maybe we could go there and look for food or other surv –

Cannibals? There?

What’s your name? I… I don’t know my name. I can’t remember anything, except the last couple of days. I woke up in the middle of nowhere, and I’ve been walking since then, but nothing before that. As if I didn’t exist. Don’t go! Please, don’t go. Are you the only one left? Why are you afraid of me? What is wrong with me? Are we going to die too? Am I going to die? Are we the last ones? Help me, please!