Not a lot, I assume.
Of course, I’m talking about first drafts and other literary attempts. How many times do we start a project that we think works, and then show a few people and they shake their heads, or smile forcefully and say,
“That’s a nice story.”
But you know deep down it isn’t and so you stuff it in your drawer because there are some passages in it that are genius and you don’t want to lose them, but the rest of it…well, the rest of it kind of sucks.
I have some works like that. Most of them are filed away, some still on a floppy disk somewhere that will never be seen again unless I pick up an old computer at a thrift shop that can still read floppies. I’m not sure it’s worth it though.
Tell me honestly, how many of these first starts do you have? And have you ever picked them up and read them again 10 years later?
I remember the very first try at Ian’s Realm. I sent it off to an editor who was so sweet and kind and encouraging she said she’d give me a critique. The manuscript came back with so much red on it my eyes burned, but the comments were helpful and I learned so much from just that one critique.
And that’s important…to learn from our mistakes. But you already know that.
I recently pulled that same manuscript out of its file and re read it and thought, you know, after ten years of honing my craft, I can fix this!
It’s the same story, (sort of) of my best selling novel, but with a totally different twist and I like it. The characters are not as nice as in Ian’s Realm. Beta readers turned their nose up at that part and being a newbie, I listened to them. But now that I have 26 published titles under my belt, I can live with it. These kids in the story are actually mean to each other. But it isn’t unrealistic at all. I mean, sisters and brothers fight. And older teens manipulate. Not everyone does, but some do and I think the trend in literature these days is to show people for who they are. The Dragon Targe doesn’t end without it’s redemption though, so to me, and I hope to readers, that works!
The Dragon Targe leans more to the gaming audience, so there’s a bit more SF in it than in Ian’s realm, and now that I fixed some things, it has its charm.
So I fixed it.
I’m offering an illustrated paperback on my Kickstarter campaign for FREE to anyone who pledges a physical tier (and the lowest tier that qualifies is the $30 paperback of Cassandra’s Castle which comes with color illustrations and a special edition bookmark along with all the other rewards from four different stretch goals! Artwork, short stories, banners and more. So come take a look!
AND WE ARE ONLY $500 AWAY FROM THAT STRETCH GOAL!
The Dragon Targe: An alternate path from the Ian’s Realm Trilogy, two siblings who have traveled to the Realm use the software as a vendetta against each other, with Ian and Abbi paying the consequences.
Here is Elisa taking her revenge out on her brother.