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This is an addendum to my previous entry. I've gotten a number of sad comments, so here are some consolatory remarks.
First, the two-volume version of the book is safe in multiple backups. I don't have time to think about it until I get the revision done; and my agent feels that if there is to be any hope of ever publishing the two-volume version in any form, it will have to be well after the shorter version is published. But if I can, I will make it available for people to read.
Second, there is a lot of good material still in the shortened version. It's not going to feel hacked about, any more rushed than my books generally do, shallow, or any more opaque than my books generally are. If I can't do it right -- though I believe that I can -- I won't do it. My general approach to a book is to start a huge number of subplots along with the main plot, and to resolve some but not all of them. A great deal of what I have done here is to remove subplots entire to a later volume. This pains me greatly, but I don't think it is actually doing much damage either to the main plot or to the subplots. There is still a lot going on in the background, so readers who like that sort of thing should not be unbearably disconsolate.
Third, several people over the course of several rather despairing entries have asked in comments why I am doing this. There are a number of reasons, some lofty and some very practical. But an important one is that I want to work with Sharyn November. She's edited one short story of mine, and I've heard her talk about editing on panels. I really want to work with her. I won't produce a bad, damaged book to do that. Nor, I believe, would she let me do so.
Fourth, I am probably making matters sound worse than they are. When things are going well, I just work on the book. When I become discouraged or stymied, then I cast about for writing-avoidance behaviors. My cat won't let me vacuum him, so I must resort to posting to LJ.
Fifth, I'm not sure how much credence anyone should give to me, at this stage, when I talk about the book's themes. I think I know what they are, but the degree to which the book is "about" such things may vary, or at lease people's perceptions of that degree may vary. The full exploration of the themes will require at least one more volume and possibly two.
I hope these remarks are useful and calming. I have to go back to where the middle has fallen out of the book and put a new one in. Thank you all for your kindness and patience.
Pamela
First, the two-volume version of the book is safe in multiple backups. I don't have time to think about it until I get the revision done; and my agent feels that if there is to be any hope of ever publishing the two-volume version in any form, it will have to be well after the shorter version is published. But if I can, I will make it available for people to read.
Second, there is a lot of good material still in the shortened version. It's not going to feel hacked about, any more rushed than my books generally do, shallow, or any more opaque than my books generally are. If I can't do it right -- though I believe that I can -- I won't do it. My general approach to a book is to start a huge number of subplots along with the main plot, and to resolve some but not all of them. A great deal of what I have done here is to remove subplots entire to a later volume. This pains me greatly, but I don't think it is actually doing much damage either to the main plot or to the subplots. There is still a lot going on in the background, so readers who like that sort of thing should not be unbearably disconsolate.
Third, several people over the course of several rather despairing entries have asked in comments why I am doing this. There are a number of reasons, some lofty and some very practical. But an important one is that I want to work with Sharyn November. She's edited one short story of mine, and I've heard her talk about editing on panels. I really want to work with her. I won't produce a bad, damaged book to do that. Nor, I believe, would she let me do so.
Fourth, I am probably making matters sound worse than they are. When things are going well, I just work on the book. When I become discouraged or stymied, then I cast about for writing-avoidance behaviors. My cat won't let me vacuum him, so I must resort to posting to LJ.
Fifth, I'm not sure how much credence anyone should give to me, at this stage, when I talk about the book's themes. I think I know what they are, but the degree to which the book is "about" such things may vary, or at lease people's perceptions of that degree may vary. The full exploration of the themes will require at least one more volume and possibly two.
I hope these remarks are useful and calming. I have to go back to where the middle has fallen out of the book and put a new one in. Thank you all for your kindness and patience.
Pamela
