Wanted to drop by and share something interesting with all of you about what I’ve been learning lately.

So, in the first version of ARGENTUM, I wanted to explore the world of the Violet War and needed a story to do it. Did my first draft make an excellent novel? NO. Why? Because the story wasn’t cohesive and seemed forced. After I put some distance between myself and the first draft, I realized that because I needed a plot to take you through places like the In Between, I ended up manufacturing one around the setting and not around the character.

Seeing a world through one character’s eyes, though, isn’t enough to carry a story for an entire novel. Serafina needed to have one, clearly defined goal — not engage in a collection of sub-plots and afterthoughts. Without that, you’d end up reading some interesting prose and that’s about it.

To tighten up the re-write, I wrote a one sentence character ambition that I could follow all the way through to the end. Now that I have that, the revisions are coming along a lot easier. (And I’m finding out where all my mistakes are, too.)

All in all, I feel that this rewrite was necessary. Even though it was painful to admit that it needed to be done, the story is a lot stronger. After all, if I couldn’t tell you what my book is about, then maybe you as a reader wouldn’t be able to figure out the plot either.