I finished the first two chapters last night. That doesn’t sound that impressive but Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 of Angel Odyssey are twice as long as the subsequent chapters. And I can really feel it when I’m reading it aloud. I honestly can't think of a good way to break up chapter 1 and chapter 2 presents it's own problems for trimming or rearranging.
Oy, reading this aloud is hard. Don’t get me wrong, I think the quality level of this final draft is going to be high because of this read-aloud draft. On the other hand, parts of the chapters, (especially chapter 2) drag in places. Some stuff I trimmed out, hopefully for the better. It’s making me consider chopping it up even further.
I’m noticing Jael doing a lot of smiling and laughing as well. Even if it’s bitter or self-mocking laughter, I’m rethinking the appropriateness of that character tag considering she just had her wings melted off, fell three miles and the marriage-bonded someone she doesn’t even know to survive. That’s a lot of heavy stuff and I’m thinking I’ll need to go back and alter, not her dialog or actions, but the dialog tags. ‘She smiled’ or ‘she said with a bemused quirk of her lips’. That just doesn’t seem to fit.
I am hopeful that subsequent chapters will fly by a bit faster. I still don’t enjoy editing but reading the story aloud does make me look at it closely. Plus I get to do funny voices and that’s the kind of thing that appeals to me. Hopefully, I’ll also build up my speaking voice. About an hour and a half is a long as I can make myself do this. I need to get up to two hours or two and a half.
It’s IM gaming night tonight, so not a lot of work will get done. Here’s hoping this Friday will be more productive than last week.
Oy, reading this aloud is hard. Don’t get me wrong, I think the quality level of this final draft is going to be high because of this read-aloud draft. On the other hand, parts of the chapters, (especially chapter 2) drag in places. Some stuff I trimmed out, hopefully for the better. It’s making me consider chopping it up even further.
I’m noticing Jael doing a lot of smiling and laughing as well. Even if it’s bitter or self-mocking laughter, I’m rethinking the appropriateness of that character tag considering she just had her wings melted off, fell three miles and the marriage-bonded someone she doesn’t even know to survive. That’s a lot of heavy stuff and I’m thinking I’ll need to go back and alter, not her dialog or actions, but the dialog tags. ‘She smiled’ or ‘she said with a bemused quirk of her lips’. That just doesn’t seem to fit.
I am hopeful that subsequent chapters will fly by a bit faster. I still don’t enjoy editing but reading the story aloud does make me look at it closely. Plus I get to do funny voices and that’s the kind of thing that appeals to me. Hopefully, I’ll also build up my speaking voice. About an hour and a half is a long as I can make myself do this. I need to get up to two hours or two and a half.
It’s IM gaming night tonight, so not a lot of work will get done. Here’s hoping this Friday will be more productive than last week.
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