“The Kite
Runner” and “Atonement” were alike in their main plot-line: an adult atoning
for what he/she did in childhood. In my novel the key character is a psychic
who feels the need to atone for what she did in a previous life. Her soul seeks
eternal redemption. That makes it different from other novels.
I tried
writing this story about three years ago and actually finished it, but I never
sent it out because it didn’t work. The structure was too confusing and the
narrative sagged in places. Parts of it were simply not convincing enough. It
was clear to me that an edit was not going to cure the problem areas, so I put the
manuscript aside until I was ready to completely rewrite the whole story from
scratch. A harsh decision, but sometimes that’s the only way to get a novel
that works. I learned a long time ago that it's a waste of time and money to send out manuscripts you know to be flawed. A rewrite is the only answer.
In this
new version, I have kept the main theme, the characters and their motivations.
Everything else has had to change. In the original draft I had a modern-day
character delving back into the past. That led to confusion in the timeline
which jumped around far too much. There is no present-day character in this new
version. It 's a linear story that never strays from the historical plot. The psychic seeking remeption remains a historical character.
I now
have a clear structure and a clear plot-line. In short, it’s a “Ken Follett meets Barbara Erskine in
medieval Ireland” story. I'm happy to spend a few months working on that, but I am still looking for a better title to
reflect the theme of atonement and redemption. Any ideas?
No comments:
Post a Comment