After lots of research, after sweating the plot, the character motivations and conflicts, the surprises and roadblocks along the way, the setting, the technology, and all the details that come into creating a good story, my favorite part of writing is what some writers hate: the “rewriting.” I prefer to call it “Polishing.” It’s an opportunity to take a story and make it better.
I like to watch the credits at the end of movies to see how many screenwriters were involved. The more writers, the better the script, the better the lines, the better the character development, the better the story. These are my favorite stories. Even in a movie, I like good writing.
Now that I went through several rewrites for each chapter, got feedback from my critique partner, there is still much work to do.
I spent several months with my free-thinking tiger-riding Valkyrie and the strong disciplined angel who oversees her, I know them well. I have discovered things about them I would never have suspected when I started writing the novel. I have found deep emotional connections in their past, and I have come to love and understand them. They are my children and I want them to do well, grow, and find their happiness.
But this can only happen after I make them suffer, sacrifice, and deserve their final reward. Although I do not enjoy the suffering, it is a necessary phase of their evolution.
This stage of writing is the reward for me. No more stress about deadlines, or whether or not the story will come together at the end. I can finally relax into the polishing, adding texture, flavor, color, emotion, and a deeper meaning to each scene, each paragraph, each character. I can go back to the beginning and implement the quirks they developed while I was writing.
I will also add a few scenes, flashbacks, dreams, to bring more layers to the story.
Some early secondary characters have become more important as the story developed, and now deserve a name and a little more time in the spotlight. The villains also deserve a chance to explain themselves. No one is totally good or totally evil. We are all shades of gray… even the red devil from another universe threatening to take over our galaxy.
ANGEL REVENGE, Book 3 of the Blue Phantom series, will be released in October 2024. “An unruly Valkyrie on a flying tiger, a stern angel in love with the rules, and evil knocking at the gate… what could go wrong?”
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In the meantime, catch up with the first two novels in the Blue Phantom series: ANGEL SHIP and ANGEL GUARDIAN: There is a phantom ship that glows like a beacon in black space, appears and vanishes, and never registers on scanners. Rumors say it will save the righteous, the oppressed, and the downtrodden… and slay the unworthy without mercy. The space pirates fear it. Their victims pray for it... but its help comes at a price...
Happy Reading.
Vijaya Schartz, award-winning author
Strong Heroines, Brave Heroes, cats
