A lot of my
blog updates have been about what happens in regards to book related events I.E
‘I got another rejection from an agent’… or ‘I’m doing another edit’…
Yet I think
the most important blog updates have been about the things I’ve learned while
on this journey. Today’s update is about one of those learning experiences.
In the last
few months I have learned how important the following statement is- ‘It is not
necessarily what you say, but how you say it.’ This has happened for various reasons
but most importantly I’ve been thinking about it because of the current changes
that are taking place with the Book of Prophecy.
Since the
last update things have been moving forward in a way that I had not expected. After
working with the editor, and that not working out, I believed that the way
forward was to take what I had learned and do my best to improve the Book of
Prophecy. I thought this was going to be by myself and I was happy enough with
that. My writer friend Starbuck had always said she would help me with another
thorough edit but it was her friend that was the editor so I thought because
that hadn’t worked out she would take a step back from helping me with my
writing. Obviously I knew we would still be friends but I thought it was too
much to ask for her help, especially as she has so much going on in her own
life. However once again she has amazed me with her kindness, generosity and
belief in my work.
After
accepting her generous offer of help we went to work and she has been helping
me with the Book of Prophecy. This is where, in the context of writing, I have
seen how there’s a difference between what you say/write and how you say/write
it. Thus I have discovered the difference between a book and a story… and wow
does Starbuck know how to write a story. I’ll always remember a comment
Starbuck made, which has almost become an on going joke. The comment was that I
write like I’m writing a text book- this is true. I wish so badly that it
wasn’t the case and I could write a story with all the skills she has. Yet I
sometimes wonder if the way I write is linked to the way my brain works and
processes things. If that’s the case I’m okay with the fact I write like a text
book because the way my brain works ultimately is what created the plot so I
shouldn’t complain. Now what I need to do is keep that way of processing things
but learn how to add certain things to my text book to make it a story, which
is happening, but for some reason it’s really difficult for me.
In hindsight
I see my biggest mistake in this whole adventure was to think it was enough to
have the story written in a series of events, one after the other, and people
would like it because of what it contained. I was so wrong and ignorant to
think this. I couldn’t see what the story was missing, but I have been shown
clearly that ‘how’ something is written is perhaps even more important than ‘what’
is written. This is a complete 180 turn around on my previous attitude and I’m grateful
for the experiences that have opened my eyes. Having it as a book that contains
a plot isn’t enough, it has to fun and immerse the reader in that world. It
sounds obvious but I didn’t fully understand this fact.
I’m truly
lucky to have Starbuck teaching me this. The difference she is making is
incredible. It’s still the same story, and there really isn’t any plot change
as such, but with adding little things here and there, and wording things
differently, it’s turning into something that is remarkably better that what it
was before. The way I look at it is the Book of Prophecy has been like a sponge
cake and now Starbuck is helping with adding the icing, sprinkles and chocolate
drops. In terms of time, energy, and contribution to the size of the cake, it really
isn’t that much, but it’s actually what makes the cake taste awesome. I think
that’s the best way to describe it.
As a
closing comment I just want to say that every time I read the new chapters I
get really excited because of how much better it is as a story. Yet there’s still
a lot of work to do so the cake decorating continues…
