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Tuesday, March 27, 2007

The focus on focus...

Okay...looking at Needletart's blog (bless her bless her bless her!!!) the question seems to be, did I mean for that first chapter to be that unfocused?

The answer is...yes and no.

The whole book started from a short story that I wrote--it began with Cory in the gas station and ended with her and Adrian's first kiss.

The end. No Mitch and Renny, no Green, no Faerie Hill.

And then I dropped out of the master's course in creative writing (for which I wrote the story) to spend more time with my children, and decided to continue writing anyway.

And I wrote Green. And I LOVED Green just like I loved Adrian--completely, without any reservation in my soul, for both his flaws and his starts and his myriad perfections.

And they had to meet.

Bringing them all together--that was the hard part. I wanted to keep much of it through Cory's eyes--she was the voice of the lost woman, and the men had both found each other years ago. That Green had to speak was a given--he was much too powerful not to. That Adrian had his own voice and his own chapters was a surprise--one that broke my heart, because, well, his destiny had been planned.

So yes, some of the first chapters (until Green's entrance, mostly) is a little like a REALLY LONG prologue--but I could not cut those chapters to save my life, because that was where Adrian and Cory met and fell in love, and their courtship was too painful to just excise, and Cory's self-awareness too precious and dearly come by to just...change. Sometimes characters do that--what you had planned for them isn't what they do at all, and what they do instead is just too wonderful--it would hurt something vital in me to make it different.

So I didn't.

It moves me more than words that my words have moved you all:-)

8 comments:

Susan said...

OK, so I'm only as far as chapter "She wakes in confusion" (hee hee) and I concur with the folks that say it seems a little unfocused which is a nicer way of saying, gosh I needed to read a few paragraphs over again because I thought I'd missed something but, no, actually I didn't. Anyway, this is a totally incoherent (cuz it's late) message to say I LIKE IT THIS (unfocused) WAY. I've always liked writing that made me do a little arithmetic or at least some speculation. I took a writer's workshop a while back in which my fellow writers wanted me to spell out something I didn't want to and felt I really shouldn't have had to if they'd only read with their thinking caps switched on. So, I'm reading Vulnerable with the faith that all will be revealed and absolutely REVELING in it. Your imagination kicks arse, Amy Lane, and I can't believe you're going to get 3 novels out of these characters and this story line because you've burned so bright and so big in the first 56 pages of book 1 that I can't imagine how you can sustain it.

But I'm so looking forward to seeing how.

Catie said...

i'm still liking it though I still dislike the spoiler on amazon. I dislike spoilers of all sorts though. But in terms of content of the novel I love it. I've never read this sort of vampire/fairy/other types of immortal beings book but am totally enjoying it.

Amy Lane said...

*smile*--thanks, Coach--let me know how you like it when you're done. (And thanks for the part about the mental arithmetic--I always stress about how much to narrate and how much to hope the audience catches on to--it's reaffirming to know the balance that worked for me works for other people too!)!!!

And Catie, darlin', I promise that, should either A. I win the literary lottery and one of the 3 (count em) agents I've sent to actually gets back to me AND has a publisher in tow or B. (much more likely) I make just enough money to fix the stuff I should have fixed the first time around, I promise that I will first, fix the typos in VULNERABLE, and second, I promise upon my honor, I will change the synopsis of WOUNDED so that no spolers occur. But in the meantime, I hope knowing the destination doesn't spoil the journey for you:-)

NeedleTart said...

On the topic of spoilers (and sort of related to the Movie meme) when Elder Son and I went to Titanic there was a couple discussing the history behind us. He, "...and when the boat sank there were only a few survivors." Lady behind the couple, "Thanks, now I know the ending. You have ruined the movie for me." Sometimes you have to go with the story (and I had read the comments about the spoiler and was still surprised when....)

Amy Lane said...

That's too funny--when we went to see the Perfect Storm, I had no idea that it was based on a real story...and then, at the end, when the boat was being turned upside down by the ginormous wave, the whole move theatre heard me holler, "THAT'S IT? THEY DIE?" I really was the only one who was surprised...

Louiz said...

Amy, I love the way you write. It's fantastic, and i'm with Coach Susan regarding your imagination... and I can't wait to see how book 4 turns out (I know there's a long wait) and what Bitter Moon is all about and, and, and...

roxie said...

A well-written book is often like a jigsaw puzzle. You start out trying to find the edge pieces, then maybe you put together the red ball, then you find the edges of the seal, . . .after a while you are filling in the background and suddenly, it all comes together and you see it as a marvel and feel so damn pleased that you figured it all out! The dryest, dullest books are the ones that start at the beginning and tell you everything you need to know before the action starts.

The Lady in Red said...

Am I the only one who can't comment on the latest blog?