Shadow Runners Update

I managed to rework the first five chapters of Shadow Runners over the weekend. I'm now working on chapters 6 and 7. I cut heaps out and joined chapters 2 and 3 into one.

The problem is that I had to keep in certain events that there's no time to work into the later parts of the story, so I didn't end up cutting as much as I originally intended to.

When I've finished the slice and dice, I'll go back and read it from start to finish and see what is "actually" in the book. It's so long since I've read most of it.

So many things have changed since the original concept of the novel that the ending is nothing like it once was. I hope this is working out for the better. I guess I'll find out when I read the whole thing.

I still have to finish off the last couple of chapters, but I thought it was more important that I fix up the rest of the story first.

If you don't lay the foundations right, the house comes tumbling down.

It's the same with short stories and novels. If the events at the start don't lead in a logical way towards events at the end, then you haven't really got a story.

You also have to make sure that, in the middle of your novel, you haven't wandered around in circles without advancing the story towards the eventual climax. The middle part is the dangerous part. You're all fired up at the start. You're caught up in the climax at the end. The middle is where you waffle if you're not careful.

You have to make sure you keep your writing tight and moving along at a fast pace. Of course, you don't want to have the pace so frantic that your readers get exhausted just reading it. There is a happy medium. That's what I'm going to make sure I have.

Catch you all next time.