Oh, yeah. The supernatural twist in the WIP makes the story much more interesting and fun. I told Linda about the twist and her eyes lit up and she started spinning off scenarios. (I'm not above taking suggestions.)

It's going to require a lot of rewriting of the first 8000 words, but it also becomes a much more straightforward progression. Instead of jumping back and forth, I'm going to make the story sequential, except for the first chapter which is a flash-forward. That makes the book better.

I'm going to have to think up some action sequences, but that usually isn't too difficult.



I'm reading "Takeover" all the way through at writer's group. It's amazing how dialogue heavy it is.

Over the last few days, I've been editing the scans of Star Axe and Snowcastles. It's clear to me that I was avoiding dialogue as much as was possible when I started. It's mostly narrative. Chapters are 20 pages long. I'm not sure I was thinking in terms of "scenes." The whole writing thing was still pretty amorphous to me, despite having taken classes in writing from Dwight Newton and reading a bunch of "how-to" books.

Somehow the process became much clearer to me this time around. Now my books are made up of scenes with a few transitions, and there is almost always dialogue unless it's an action scene. Still don't know if my dialogue is any good, but I'm no longer afraid of using it to fill out the characters and advance the plot. 



Once again, now that I'm into a book, I realize that I don't tend to second-guess myself when I'm writing. When I'm writing, I'm confident. It's when I'm not writing that I tend to start to have doubts. I just immerse myself in the story at hand.

It also reminds me that when I'm writing a book, I'm doing the best I can and that I don't release books until I think they are good. That is, when I'm finished, I really like what I've done.

But after I finish book, I tend to move on, and over time, little doubts start to set in. I think this is just because I'm removed from the book. It's much like when I'm not writing--doubts begin to assail me.

What I have to remember is that at the time I put the book out, I really liked it, I really thought it was good, and I think I need to hold to that notion and not let time and distance create doubts.

Really, when you're writing you realize that this is what you're capable of--this is what you do. Every book is a bit of a crapshoot. Sometimes the plots and characters just come together, sometimes you have to struggle, sometimes there are intrinsic problems that can't be solved but aren't so bad that they completely negate the book.

Rarely does it all come together: the great premise, the writing, the plot.

Each time I start a book, is a chance to get it right.