Final draft & beyond
Final draft & beyond – I write epics of a vast superverse involving complex and fully developed races in both macro and micro culture. My worlds seamlessly traverse mortal and ethereal boundaries, which have their own politics, personalities, heroes and serious bad guys. The plots and story lines interlace just like the world we experience and meticulous attention is paid to how the characters communicate, what motivates them and where do they come unstuck. To make all that work to the highest possible standard so a reader is in the story not just reading about a story, I also write highly condensed short stories of the same superverse. They are snap shots that force me to consider every line with no bloat or padding and identify what is critical to each characters life and present experience. Short stories and epics have two separate speeds. Changing gear in that way I have found a rhythm a sympathetic value that exists between the two extremes. They both force my story to live as if it were today’s news. After the tale has been concluded to a tight final draft it’s time for the real step outside the comfort zone of my created world. I batten down the hatches to be edited by a professional impartial and skillful mind that knows my genre and is only interested in two things. Enthusiasm aside, does this work transport the reader to believe this writers imagineered world? Is it desirable in today’s market? I am privileged to have an excellent editor who ensures everything is synchronized, consistent and relatable for readers across the citadel 7 series and who is removed from my beta test group. When a green light of good to go occurs after the editing is done, then it’s time to send the story aloft into the world or writing competition to see how it stands up in a blind an unbiased shootout. That’s how the stories of Citadel 7 are prepared.
