Edits

I have a story that has been bothering me for a long time. I wrote it for NaNoWriMo in 2010 (I think) and I LOVED it. I read it and chortled, and went on to write three more stories with the same characters.

A fascinating story, of a young non-human woman raised by a human family--and her people want their world back.

When I finally got around to doing the plot edit a year later, I was both confused and frustrated. I wanted the story to remain as it was, but it had some major flaws that needed to be worked out. With four major story-lines and four main characters, it was just too complicated. Then there was the fact that the four stories started and ended at different times in the narrative--but all four were necessary to the story!

I eventually decided to split out two of the storylines and make another book of them, since the connections were peripheral. They met in the middle, and then separated again, even though they were going on simultaneously. I could easily make two books out of one (like knew lamps for old) and preserve the original idea.

It simplified things enormously, but also introduced three new characters (with their own motivations and backstory), which complicated it again. And then I realized that the story ended in the wrong place--the end used previously had belonged to the plotline which I split off. Which is nice in a way, because now I can use that ending for the other book...

But the beginning is wrong now, because the beginning also belonged to the other book.

Bleh. I love the book. The other three in the series are good (one is FANTASTIC) but I need to get this one done before I even consider publication.

Happy writing! :)