Half Good

As I read through Second Chance, I haven't (yet) found much that needs changing. A word here and there, a paragraph that reads better with one sentence deleted; housekeeping stuff.

The story started out strong. And maybe the opening paragraph could be catchier, but I had to ground the story ~ let readers know where the main character is coming from, why she reacts to circumstances the way she does, provide a contrast between her old personality and her new "better" one. The beginning is not a flashback. It starts with MC in a specific place and a specific circumstance, and shows how and why she decides to escape it. It's not a typical beginning for me, but in this scenario it works. Every book can't follow a formula.

The trouble hits somewhere in the middle. Clearly I was struggling to find where to go. The story hits its natural climax too early on, and the last half of the book reads like filler. I didn't brainstorm like I did with Inn Dreams. If I'm going to improve on Second Chance, I'm going to need some twists and turns. 

And I really hate the ending. All I can think is that I wanted to be done with it. That's happened before with other stories. An idea reaches its conclusion too soon and then I grow bored. It's not that I don't know where to add a bump in the road; the problem is, I don't know what that bump should be. With a new story it's easier to come up with possibilities, but this one is already written out and I can't shake the mindset that it's "done". Improving upon it will require me to immerse myself back in the story and view it as new, which means I'll need to conjure up some interest in doing that.

I wonder sometimes how I get myself into these messes. Now that I've begun, I feel like I have to carry on with it. Thus, I'll keep trying.