Ch…ch…ch…changes

So I’ve been doing a lot of thinking the last few days about my book since it came to a screeching halt on Saturday. While in the midst of searching out someone to answer some FBI procedural questions, I’ve come to a few conclusions:

  • The story as it stands needs to be expanded from beginning to the point where I have left off.
  • I am going to have to add some characters. She’s a new profiler. That means she’s on a probationary period, and there will be a senior profiler there (I would think–it’s how new regular agents are trained for 2 years). So that’s at least one more character. And I am wondering if maybe they arrive as a team–more than the three of them. Other agents, each with different specialties? Of course I have to figure out what those specialties are and who has what. And adding in all those extra people will very much change the dynamic between she and Collin and how they get together–i.e. making it harder. It would also give me the opportunity to follow other characters in other books–so a series maybe.
  • I have changed my mind about how Kensie gets brought into this case (which in itself isn’t a huge change…just part of the first chapter).

The bottom line–I am probably going to have to do another rewrite. :head desk: Gah! Which in the long run I don’t mind because I think it will be a better book and have more life to it but for the love of God! And of course it means more research (because these other folks will have skills I know nothing about). Naturally. My pantser tendencies are coming back to bite me in the ass yet again. I need to figure out a full plot and outline before I got haring off again. And do some fact checking. Blah.

3 thoughts on “Ch…ch…ch…changes

  1. Be patient, too many authors rush their work or have the mentality of “good enough”.

    There’s no such thing.

    Good, tight editing and fully fleshed out and three dimensional characters are essential to creating fine fiction. Take the time required, bitch about it, sure, but in the end we must, as writers, lower our heads and forge on. There are already too many bad or mediocre books out there, why add another one to the pile?

  2. Thanks Cliff! I’m going to point my husband here when he say “You’re starting over AGAIN?” Although really, he should understand. I don’t know of a single piece of music he’s ever written that he’s actually “finished” or “happy” with…

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