Gearing Up To Write

After babysitting several times a week for a little over a month, on top of all the family stuff and ministry and activities I'm doing, I think things are finally slowing down a bit.

Time to dive back into fiddling with stories. Muhahaha!

My most recent manuscript, which I finished in rough-draft form in November, is currently being edited by my youngest brother for a school project. So I think my first story to attack in my spare time is Melod's Song.

Melod's Song is about a young orphan boy with a great sense of humor, a cheery outlook on life, and an overwhelming store of corny jokes and off-key ballads. His ambition is to be a famous bard and entertainer, but his quieter, deeper hope is for home and family. Fleeing the evil Shamen, he accidently finds himself in a hidden stronghold called Stormyrock, where dwells a community of friendly, seemingly-harmless, book-loving outlaws of all ages and types. Melod feels this might be his new home. But on the wild coast, more dangers loom than the perilous cliffs. Melod must dig out the mysteries behind Stormyrock, discover who doesn't want him there, and find his place before more lives than his own are distroyed.

How was that? I'm still working on writing gripping and accurate summaries. ;-)

It's strange work, trying to edit and re-write and smooth out one's own novel. Ideally, re-reading it all through should be the first step, but it's very hard not to get distracted and start re-writing the first chapter. For the fifth time. And things like flow and pacing are tricky little critters to pin down, examine, and fix. But I'll have a go at it, and see if I can't fill in some narrative holes and smooth out inconsistencies.

Too bad the scones are nearly gone! I ought to try my hand at biscotti. That would go well with tea and writing.