Flippin’ ‘eck – that’s brilliant!!

I was talking my wife last night, something that we are prone to do over a glass of wine, and she pressed me on when is my book going to get published? It was a good question that has been frequently asked over the many, many months I have been working on it and, as on previous occasions, I had no definite answer.

We then discussed why I did not have a set date in mind. Now obviously it is impossible to set such a date when you do not have a publisher, never mind not having a literary agent, especially if you are trying to go down the traditional route of publishing.

As she pointed out, however, I had made another submission; why not set a date in consideration of that fact?

This was a good point, in my wine drinking estimation. I knew before hand that the odds are stacked against me when it comes to getting a sympathetic viewing from an agent. I made my submission on Sunday muttering to myself this ancient adage; hope for the best, expect the worst, and take what comes!

Glancing back at my pre-submission notes I confirmed that there was approximately a 6 week wait before I could expect to hear anything from the agent. 6 weeks would put me in the middle of July. That might be a good time to e-publish? However, we have a family holiday booked for August; I don’t want to be away after the launch because getting the word out each and every day is important if you want to succeed. Then my muse hit me with another brilliant idea; why not launch your book on the anniversary day of the battle it chronicles?

Flippin’ ‘eck – that’s brilliant!!

Tying the two in together would give me time to build up my social media network, iron out any manuscript problems, develop the website more, research e-publishing fully and be ready on the big day!

So, if my latest attempt to capture a literary agent alive and kicking does fail here’s my plan-b. This book is going to take its’ first steps into the big bad world one way or another, I mean, it’s not as if we write these things so that no one else gets to read them other than us is it?!

It's Late in the Day but it it's necessary

It’s not something you expect the day after you put down the manuscript and say to yourself; “that’s finished then!” but there’s that little voice inside your head, whispering like Gollum; “you know he’s right precious!”

He was right and I was wrong.

The thing is if you ask people to read your manuscript and give you some feedback then you have to accept their comments with good grace, so when my friend told me to change the first chapter I should have considered his opinion seriously and not just ignored it.

Did I know that he was right even then?

Probably. The thing is I liked my fists chapter but I knew also that it just did not cut the mustard as far as opening chapters go. He suggested promoting the second chapter because it had everything a first chapter should; pace, excitement, a big brawl.

Then again, the original first chapter had some mystery about it, some good descriptive writing; I thought it made a good opening but I knew it did not make a smash an grab entrance.

Deciding to rewrite an entire chapter at this late stage is not something to be taken lightly but it had to be done. More than that the only way I could rescue something from the old chapter one was to merge it with an existing chapter as the same principal character appears in both of them.

So I copied the two chapters into a new file and opened a fresh blank sheet and then waited for something to happen. And it did. A new scene flowed from my fingers that helped add a new dimension to a historical character. It was curiously reminiscent to an earlier scene featuring the main protagonist, that is, similar but not the same. It created a link between the two that I could build upon in the second novel.

The strength of this new chapter seemed to be demonstrated by the fact that I could insert much of what I thought was my best writing in the original opening chapter. By using a simple writing device I was able to combine the new and the old in something that was much better.

Surprisingly this did not take too long either. I tapped out over 5,000 words in a couple of hours, reviewed it, rewrote a bit, and then inserted it seamlessly into the main manuscript.

It felt good. It felt right. I wish I had done it earlier. I suppose that is the lesson that has to be learnt; if you ask for advice you have to be honest enough to listen to what is given to you, that way you won’t end up making last minute major alterations to your work!