“The Farpool  is coming…get ready!”

1.     I have just recently finished the first draft of my new sf novel The Farpool.  With this post, I hope to give you a peek behind the curtains at what comes next.  See, the writing part is the fun part.  Now, comes the hard part.  It’s like eating cake versus flossing your teeth.

2.     Currently I’m giving the story a good first read, editing as I go.  So far, I’ve dropped the Prologue completely and will probably drop an entire chapter.  The story as finished at first draft, and with an appendix, is about 310 pages, formatted for Smashwords.  When I’m done, I expect it to come in at about 280 pages.  It should be a tighter story.  That’s what editing is about.

3.     When a writer puts on his editor hat, it’s important that he isn’t in love with his own words. Does the story move and keep you interested…or do your eyes glaze over?  Sometimes, the writing was such an effort that it’s like tearing out fingernails to give up any of those hard-won words.  My advice: tear out your fingernails.  Especially in certain types of science fiction, where alien worlds have to be designed and developed, there is a tendency to include all your research, to make it worthwhile.   This temptation should be avoided.  Include what’s necessary to move the story and convey the atmosphere, no more.  And remember, the reader’s own imagination is your best tool.  A few well-chosen evocative words can go a long way.

4.     After editing, comes marketing.   There are a number of possibilities for a relatively unknown writer such as me.  This blog is one of them.  I do have another blog as well, but that one is more devoted to my series Tales of the Quantum Corps.  I’d like to keep the two separate.   I can and have done chapter excerpts.  I could even set up a whole new blog for what I hope will be at least three Farpool Stories.  The only thing that keeps me from doing that is I’d be writing three blogs at once and that’s more than I want to undertake at this time.

5.     Another good marketing tool I will be working on is making sure I have a good cover.  I have a working cover and it conveys the general idea but you can tell it wasn’t done by a professional.  Let’s face it: we all judge books by their cover.  Mine is supposed to convey the idea of whirlpool, beginning in the oceans of earth (like a waterspout) and blending into some kind of interstellar wormhole/black hole whirlpool in an outer space setting.  Thus, the Farpool…get it? 

6.     I keep all the things I need to do in this post-first draft phase by maintaining a file called NEXT STEPS.  Below is my file for this project, updated to be current….

NEXT STEPS:

7.     Complete any needed expansion of General Story Outline, especially Research Needs. DONE

8.     Write up details on Coethi-Uman conflict, circa early 2300s. Explanation of starball weapon.  DONE

9.     Research details on sequence of events in a star collapse, or supernova.  Is Sigma Albeth B big enough to go supernova?  DONE

10.  Time Twister design and operational details DONE

11.  Create a map and details of Scotland Beach, FL. DONE

12.  Background and personality sketches on major characters DONE

13.  Some detail on the nature of the adaptive modifications that Chase and Angie go through to enable them to survive on Seome.  DONE

14.  Finish Table of Plot Lines DONE

15.  Group table entries into chapters  DONE

16.  Write Chapter and Scene Details  DONE

17.  Start a List of Major Players DONE

18.  Create details of Uman Time Displacement Battery stationed on Seome’s Kinlok Island.  DONE

19.  Re-read The Shores of Seome before starting  DONE

20.  Started first draft: 13 October 2015.  Finished first draft: 8 June 2016.

21.  Review and edit final 

22.  Spellcheck 

23.  Book descriptions 

24.  Tag lines

25.  Word 97 version

26.  Verify cover format USE JPEG! 

27.  Print final

 

This is just a big To Do list, with some things done and some still to be done.  This is how I make sure I do all the things necessary to make a story into a finished book product.

 

28.  I would also like to include a map of Seome if I can find out whether Smashwords formatting will support it.  A map would help clarify things in the story.  The problem with this is that Smashwords’ Style Guide says their formatting requirements strongly advise against using an image with text embedded in it.  Well, a map is pretty useless without some embedded text.  So this may have to wait for later.

29.  This post is an update on how The Farpool is coming along.  With any luck, you’ll see it uploaded to Smashwords (Fiction/General Science Fiction…) sometime in the next month.  Then I’ll clue everyone in as to my next project.

30.  Next week’s blog post…Naming Names.  Terminology, place names and people names.  It’s a little discussed piece of the writerly arts.

31.  See you on Monday June 27.