Breaking the Spell

When I return to a first draft – after the obligatory month to 6 weeks – I expect to find an incoherent mess. First drafts feel like that in process, they’re all about getting to the finish line in a novel that seemed visionary to start but ended chaotically. So I’m often pleasantly surprised how not utterly terrible it is. Flawed, undoubtedly; messy structure and ridden with careless grammatical errors – naturally. It is those basic errors only that really stand out on second revision.

So what am I not seeing?

It is somehow being in thrall to an idea that, once faded, is then re-lit. From wading through a dark dense forest to re-entering a seemingly enchanted woods, forgetting just how treacherous it had been.

But there can come a point (there has now on my second revision) when you find yourself lost again, deep in it. At least it is realisation that there are problems, like a sudden reawakening from a dream-state, or the breaking of a spell. Only no longer able to see the forest for the trees. So somehow you need rise above it all, find a vantage point. Well, i’m struggling to find one just now. Usually for me the major oversights only become apparent on the third revision. Sometimes it is only on the fourth rewrite or later that it all becomes clear – the theme, the essence. It might even be that such a revelation is but a false one. They’ve happened before.

Well, neither do you need follow a religion to have faith. But I need to believe it will all work out in the end, regardless of the evidence.

Or maybe I’d better just call it hope.

My published books: Worlds Beyond Time (UK) Worlds Beyond Time (US)

The Captured (US) The Captured (UK)

My links site: adriankyte.com

Fix the Unfixable?

There is no achievement so imbued with pride than publishing your first novel. Invested with high hopes and what feels like your entire being into this monumental project. Even if it turns out to be a failure, rejected and unappreciated, it will always hold that special place in your heart. Yes, a lot of emotion tied up with that debut work. So it has not been easy to confront the admittedly very considerable failings of The Hidden Realm.

Twelve years from first published I finally removed it. Well, mostly; it ended up on numerous sites since I made it free. Possibly exceeded 10k downloads. Clearly some readers liked it, but unfortunately those who didn’t made it known. This was in the days when competition on virtual space was nowhere near as fierce, so getting attention was far easier. But that kind of attention carries risk. And my request to delete all reference to it on Goodreads was rejected.

Here’s the dilemma. Should I do an extensive re-edit/rewrite of THR? Or just carry on with my fifth novel (second, third draft etc)? It’s a question perhaps only I can answer. A cursory re-read of my debut I soon got a sense of its failings: too many character POVs with all their narratives; clunky dialogue – which has been my weakness for many years. In the end I did my best to tie everything up to what felt like a neat resolution. Written in the noughties, maybe it seems dated in more ways than just the science&tech.

The most common problem with that first novel is, bursting with ideas, you want to throw everything in, without the patience to think: I can leave that character’s story for the next volume. So the next (Time Over) was like a reset in the series.

Anyway, I hope not to simply disregard THR without some attempt to salvage it. Because, surely, you can never forget your first.

My published books: Worlds Beyond Time (UK) Worlds Beyond Time (US)

The Captured (US) The Captured (UK)