Videshi progress

Since completing the first draft of The Videshi Dilemma back in April, I’ve been pushing chapters through the queue at Critique Circle. Today I submitted the final chapter which will be critiqued by Christmas, completing this phase of the writing process.

Now begins the part that I find the hardest: revising and polishing based on the feedback I’ve received.

Just like I’ve found with the writing itself, each novel is unique when it comes to editing. While I do have a consistent and repeatable process in broad terms, the details vary so much that these days I start by taking a step back and looking at the feedback overall, then figuring out a revision strategy.

Critiquing feedback is usually all over the map. Some of it is very detailed (add or remove a comma here, change that word, clean up that sentence etc.), some is bigger picture (characters, plot holes, pacing) but there are usually dominant themes unique to that story that will guide the editing approach. Do I need to add or remove scenes or whole sub-plots? Is there a glaring hole in the logic that tears the whole story apart? Like renovating a home, making structural changes involves a whole different set of tools than simply redecorating.

I already have a sense that a major task this time is developing the characters. Their motivations and backgrounds driving their behavior and interactions need to come through more clearly. I know this is a weak area for me. Not so critical in more action-oriented stories, but this one is slower and more reflective so the characters need to carry things along.

I also know that a second, more subtle, task is to examine the reveal of information throughout the story. I’ve seen a lot of comments to the effect that information seems to be repeated, or events seem to be getting bogged down and not progressing.

Both of these issues will need some careful thought before I start hacking chapters apart.

With all that said, I am still aiming for publication before the end of 2025. Watch this space!