“Learning curves are often brutal.” —Unknown
Okay, it was me, I made the above statement up. So let me explain why I made it up.
I now have two full manuscripts of First Knight of the Light (FKotL): my original and a “clean” version. The clean version was to be able to present to Christian agents and publishers, for what I hope are obvious reasons.
The problem of having two versions? The editing process. If you edit one version, you need to edit the other. I made a mistake and made major edits to the clean version. The reason it was a mistake is because I then needed to make those edits to the original version. Pardon me as I pull back the writing curtain again.
Think of the original as the “master” copy. That’s the version that has everything in it. In the case of FKotL, there are some implied sex scenes, some violent scenes, and adult language. Compared to Dean Koontz horror novels or Game of Thrones, it’s pretty mild. But there were definitely things that needed to be cleaned up for the Christian market. So in the master copy, the full context for everything has already been developed, how each scene works itself into the next, thematic development, and so on.
I’ll use a gardening analogy to try to clear this up. To make a clean version, you remove the bad words, and edit scenes that contain objectionable things. When you do that to the master copy, it may take a little re-writing to “prune’ the edited scenes to make them flow again.
By editing the clean version, then trying to fold it back in to the master copy, I have to engage in much more editing. Having edited the clean version, including the removal of significant “bloat”, I now have to compare the new clean version with the master copy. Now, instead of pruning, I’m grafting parts of the edited clean version onto the master copy. Something that should have taken me one evening has taken me more than two days.
Keep in mind, the master story follows a logical progression. I outlined the various story arcs, their progression through the three main acts of the story, following established themes throughout. Did you think I just sat down and started writing? That concept was the first casualty of my professional writing. :) You have to plan this stuff out, or your story quickly turns to crap.
Now, if I do major edits to the clean version, how do they affect the master copy’s story arcs, thematic development, and plot progression? I found that out the hard way these last two days. It became a laborious process of comparing the two versions, line by line. It got bad enough that I actually left my office and did some house work. I know, the horror!
In the meantime, I finished the process of identifying the agents I withdrew my queries from in Round One, and identifying if they would be worth adding to Round Two. Another thing I’ve learned. Just because an agent says they are interested in Fantasy, doesn’t mean they’ll even look at my story.
FIRST KNIGHT OF THE LIGHT is ‘high’ fantasy. High fantasy is typically set in an alternative, fictional world that has developed rules that are distinct from Earth’s. This is a wordy way to describe ‘world-building.’
My project is actually an ‘epic’ fantasy, a type of high fantasy. The main difference is the length of the book, and the “epic-ness” of the plot, themes, and world. Think Lord of the Rings, Narnia, or Game of Thrones. Large, complex worlds, multiple storylines, numerous character arcs.
‘Low’ fantasy occurs on Earth. Apparently there is some debate on whether Harry Potter is ‘high’ or ‘low.’ It takes place on Earth, but is more of a “world-within-a-world.” Some subsets of low fantasy are: urban fantasy like the Dresden Files, one of my favorites; dark fantasy which incorporates horror or dread; paranormal romance like Twilight; and some superhero fiction, if the powers are derived supernaturally, not scientifically or pseudoscientifically.
All that to say, if an agent says they will consider fantasy stories, you need to do your research to make sure the agent will actually represent what you wrote.
I’m up to 69 queries, with 16 rejections.
My learning curve has been updated.
EXCELSIOR!
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