Double Sessions

I reckon I can edit pritnear all 19 chapters before leaving Dearborn. This'll mean one a day, but probably more like editing double sessions. I prefer to read through a chapter first making notes as I go (eg, add description here, what's another example of this there, etc...) and then to go back and fill in the blanks. At one point or another I typically hit a wall which is where reading or baseball comes in to provide a break so splitting the editing into two sessions a day should work well.

As I edit I've set out some goals:

1) Smooth transitions: Make sure you get from one word to another, one sentence to another, one paragraph to another and one chapter to another smoothly. Don't leave the reader behind without any bread crumbs.

2) Physicality: A complement to conversational humor is physical humor. Physical description also gives the reader a better feel for the characters. Lastly, it breaks up conversation which may move too quickly without it and with it may help build up a sequence.

3) Know your characters: Few of us know everything about those in our lives, but we know a few key things. This is an area where I need to do a better job. Plus, the more you know about a character, the more flexibility you have for humor, action and conversation.

4) Keep it tight: Every field of work and every couple have their own jargon. So does this book. The book's jargon touches on cars, U.S. history, Eddie Murphy films, baseball and Arab culture. What I can't do is extend references or allusions too far beyond that already wide swath otherwise I'll lose readers' interest, frustrate them and ask them to do too much work. While I enjoy reading good books more than once (mining them for more because I probably missed something the first time), the reader's reward should not come in the second or third reading. A reward should come the first time around.

Make no mistake, I refuse to "dumb down" this book. I refuse. Standards are already low enough out there.

Buckley, 11, Prologue, Readers...

So I ended up going to the luncheon with Christopher Buckley last week, but it turned out to be a much larger (and senior) event than I had expected so no chances to talk shop with him. That being said, I think the time I took to think of questions for him also helped produce possible answers which I've been able to use.

I've also made progress writing. I finished a draft of chapter eleven and added a prologue before the intro chapter. The prologue does a better job of laying out the book's big question/premise while also aligning the book's story with some of the later allusions to Eddie Murphy films. Work on chapter twelve has begun.

A number of people have also volunteered to read the book when finished, including a literary agent friend. This is good news and I look forward to their feedback.

I may also be writing short scripts for a comedy troupe that hopes to air their work on YouTube which would be fun.

Lastly, I hope to have some other good news to announce relatively soon. Just want to be 100% sure first.

Constructive Criticism

Thanks to some good friends, I'm happy to report that the book's first chapter has garnered some good feedback and one sucker actually said he wanted to read more. More importantly, those who provided criticism where clear about what didn't make sense and what could be improved.

While you can't please or make sense to everyone, it's worth a try as long as it's not detrimental to the story's flow and feel. I look forward to addressing the criticisms and then submitting the first chapter to a few upcoming short story contests to get that ball rolling.

Chapter Two takes our African protagonists to the Detroit area where they begin to set up shop with only 90 days to bear fruit. To get better acquainted with Motown, I'm going to watch Beverly Hills Cop tonight (old school Eddie Murphy is gonna be all over this joint) and then hopefully make a trip in the next month or so. While Flint has gotten press for its demise, it seems that the town of Monroe may have an even worse case. Hopefully a trip out there will give me a better feel for the area and the people, especially if I'm able to sit down with local leaders.