On Novel Writing VII

After making considerable headway into my second pass through my sci-fi/fantasy adventure novel yesterday evening, I’m now at page 163 out of 242 (at present). In this revision process, I’ve only added one scene, but I’ve extended and fleshed-out several, in the process adding nearly 10,000 words to the first draft so far. For example, during my second pass I noticed that the protagonist never questions a reference another character makes, although the reference is in regard to something that the protagonist doesn’t know yet. I’m so familiar with this story that I unconsciously forget that I’m aware of plot details that the characters may not know yet. While it’s only one sentence among tens of thousands, I noticed during my revision that it’s wrong and needs to be corrected. Although the progress of my revision process is taking longer than I’d like, I continue to feel very pleased with the result. And after I’ve been literally developing this story over the past 18 years, I’m in no hurry to rush it to completion. I’m far more concerned with composing a book that I’m satisfied with than seeking immediate publication or revenue.

Since I have a Master’s degree in Literature, I’m very familiar with literary themes, the like of age versus youth, the madonna/whore complex, and the loss of innocence. I’ve consciously constructed three parallel themes into my novel, recurring subtle motifs that add additional layers of narrative depth and meaning to the story. However, during my revision process, which has had me mentally deconstructing the story to make sure that everything fits together clearly and properly for readers, I’ve discovered that the novel actually includes a fourth running theme that I unconsciously built into the story. While it can be called a consistent aspect of characterization that many of the characters’ personalities share in common, I think that it’s more aptly described as a consistent motif or characteristic that affects many of the characters in the story. Personally, I’m quite excited by this ephphany, although I realize that the theme is subtle enough that most of my readers may not notice it. In fact, I, the author, didn’t even notice it until my second draft of the book. But now that I’m looking for it, I realize that evidence of the theme occurs numerous enough times, to enough different characters to legitimately constitute a literary theme rather than a coincidence or singular characterization.

I do realize that this vague explanation will have little significance to anyone reading this blog entry, but I wanted to share it as a fresh confirmation that I am still working on my novel, Bloody Angel.