Ok, here goes.

I’d like to ask about three things. Theme, Motifs and Action/Decisions.

[I’ll make the questions long, not because I expect you to touch on every point, but to give you options for what you want to talk about.]

1. This story works on two levels — as a fantasy, it has magic, sprites, elves (O Kale, you sparkly elf hunk!) and fairies. In a lot of ways, it follows a fantasy story structure. Cinderella has to find three objects to make a spell work, for instance. However, it is really a literary story in the guise of fantasy tropes. Were you conscious of writing a story with a theme? How do you see the theme of Cinders working with or against the theme of the original Cinderella? (Or, since there are many versions, the theme of the Disney version.) . There are several, ahem, men in Cinderella’s life. Do the different forms of love she feels for each of them relate to the theme? Do you see the men as representing different choices not just Cinderella, but any person, could make?

2. Your writing is extremely well-crafted at the word level. In addition, though, you have a number of motifs that run through the novel — the white flowers, for instance. Or the way Cinderella thinks of her mother, vines and her nickname. The motifs are subtle but evocative. Did the motifs emerge accidentally during the writing, or did you consciously weave them throughout the story? How do you see the motifs playing to the theme?

3.

There was a surprising amount of action in this book. I have to admit, I wasn’t prepared for murders and battles! Awesome. However, the action scenes weren’t the real pivot points of the story, were they? At first, I found this a little disconcerting, because in genre fantasy, I would expect the heroine to assert herself during the scenes of high drama. Yet in this book, I would say the most important decisions the heroine makes are in the quiet scenes.

I’d like to ask about three things. Theme, Motifs and Action/Decisions.

[I’ll make the questions long, not because I expect you to touch on every point, but to give you options for what you want to talk about.]

1. This story works on two levels — as a fantasy, it has magic, sprites, elves (O Kale, you sparkly elf hunk!) and fairies. In a lot of ways, it follows a fantasy story structure. Cinderella has to find three objects to make a spell work, for instance. However, it is really a literary story in the guise of fantasy tropes. Were you conscious of writing a story with a theme? There are several, ahem, men in Cinderella’s life. Do the different forms of love she feels for each of them relate to the theme? Do you see the men as representing different choices not just Cinderella, but any person, could make?

2. Your writing is extremely well-crafted at the word level. In addition, though, you have a number of motifs that run through the novel — the white flowers, for instance. Or the way Cinderella thinks of her mother, vines and her nickname. The motifs are subtle but evocative. Did the motifs emerge accidentally during the writing, or did you consciously weave them throughout the story? How do you see the motifs playing to the theme?

3. How do you see the Cinders working with or against the original Cinderella? (Or, since there are many versions, the theme of the Disney version.) Specifically, I would like to ask about the issue of power in Cinders. In the Disney version, Cinderella does not have much power, but what she does have she uses to protect those even more helpless than herself, for instance, tiny animals. In Cinders, she has much more power, but power is wielded more ambiguously all around. The prince, the fairy godmother, the queen, Cinderella, all have power, and in many cases, the reader is not sure that power is being used for good rather than for selfish purposes. There is one scene — I don’t want to be too specific, but I have to mention it — where children are killed. I was pretty shocked, and I think for me, that sealed this as a book for adults, not a book for children. In a sense, it seemed to me that scene represented the loss of innocence.

There was a surprising amount of action in this book. I have to admit, I wasn’t prepared for murders and battles! Awesome. However, the action scenes weren’t the real pivot points of the story, were they? At first, I found this a little disconcerting, because in genre fantasy, I would expect the heroine to assert herself during the scenes of high drama. Yet in this book, I would say the most important decisions the heroine makes are in the quiet scenes.

Behold My Invention, the Wheel

You know what I’ve just discovered?

My manuscript doesn’t have to be perfect the first time. I can start out with this thing called a “rough draft.” Get the main shape of the plot down on paper. Then go back with a finer brush and paint in the details.

Whoah! Did I think of that all by myself? Man, I’m a genius!

Ok, ok, this is Novelwriting 101. I am a big dork. Sometimes you have rediscover basic rules for writing over again. As the saying goes, “A fool can be told something 1000 times and never learn it. A genius need be told only seven-hundred-and-twenty-six times.”

* * *

Speaking of trying something 726 times, I have again re-arranged Dindi (the series). Quick history: The project started as one 200,000 word book with 7 sections. That was too long, so I thought, what if I make each section into its own book? I wrote an additional 90,000 words for book one. Then I decided that I wanted the series finished, whether Book 1 has sold yet or not, and 7 books was too long. I played around with a quartet.

Inspiration: I have 300,000 words written and a complete series arc. How about a TRILOGY? See how I do that? First I invent a wheel, now a stone ax. I amaze myself.

Seriously, the reason I dismissed a trilogy before was because I couldn’t figure out how to divide 7 by 3. Math, not my forte. (See the post on this topic on The Screaming Guppy.) Then I had a BRILLIANT idea. This time I’m not being sarcastic. Yes, a little bit self-mocking, just to pretend I’m being humble, but mostly I am serious. I re-arranged the order of the seven sections!

Now I have one (hopefully) polished mss (Book 1) and two virtually complete but extremely rough drafts. The word count aim for both is 100,000-110,00 words. As they stand:

Book 2: 102,000 words
Book 3: 88,000 words

I’m a happy camper.

* * *

Back to work on my wheel.

Or I could think of it as writing a 300 page synopsis.