kristaphillips Argh! I realized today, ok last night, that I made a big editing faux pas.
I’d finished my editing through chapter 6, and was working on chapter 7.
Ohhh, little backstory needed here. I have submitted chapters 1 – 4 and received feedback on them to my critique group. On chapter 3, it was noted to me that I had NO dialogue. That’s right, zip, zero, nada, none. In my defense, there is a point to the scene. This girl, the main character, is lonely. She is scared of her own shadow, lives by herself, and I NEED for her to be alone to make the point of the scene. It is critical.
So, there is the dilemma. How do you add action, er, dialogue, to a scene with one person at home by themselves? My first thought was, maybe she could talk to her herself. I gave that idea the boot that really fast. Jenny is a little OCD, but is not psycho.
Thus entered psycho old lady neighbor with a big fat cat. Quiet normal Jenny gets suckered into cat sitting said big fat cat.
Ok, so problem solved. I added humor and a good two pages or more of dialogue. On top of that, she has a cat to talk to now! Great stuff!
Enter editing problem.
I FORGOT TO ADD THE CAT. Chapter 6 comes back to Jenny in her home, but where is the cat? Obviously this newly added cat has disappeared, however not sure how that could happen given the obviously obscene size of the feline.
So, word to the wise. Don’t add a large fat cat to your book without figuring out a way to take it out. Otherwise, ya gotta keep adding it.
