Adventures in Sage-Land

[osprey_archer]

Yet again I am trying to rewrite the novel about Sage and her three best friends in their senior year of high school as they apply to college, bake snickerdoodles, study calculus, and discuss whether or not niceness is for suckers.

I'm hoping that now that I have Reciprocity under my belt, I will be better able to cope with the multiplicity of subplots and the sheer sprawling size of the thing. It's not, for a novel, actually that long - it's about 60,000 now, and I'm hoping it will clock in around 80,000 when I'm done - but the plot is very, how shall I put this, diffuse.

The first half is actually pretty solid. The second half is a mess, and I had to rip out an appalling percentage of it, including an entire subplot about Sage's budding friendship-oh-wait-now-that-I'm-getting-to-know-you-I-think-I-don't-like-you with Geneva, which gobbled up page time without offering much of anything in return. I don't think I need to get rid of the rest of it, but the pacing is off and I'm not sure how to fix it.

Would anyone be interested in reading the first half? I think I may have reached the point where I need to talk it over with someone who knows the story.

Comments

[vcmw]

I'd love to read it, as I like exactly all of the things you describe as elements in this novel.

I think you probably want feedback from someone better at plot and structure than me, though. My notions of plot are still sort of at "go, have feelings! stare at objects! surely plot will resolve from this!" sort of levels.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

How about I wait to send it to you until I've got the plot and structure hammered out, then? I'll need a "having feelings and staring at objects" beta later on, once the story's all done, and it will be better if that beta is someone who will see it with fresh eyes.

[vcmw]

That sounds lovely! When you get to that point, let me know if/how I can be helpful.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I will email you.

[minutia-r.livejournal.com]

If you still need another pair of eyes, I would definitely be interested.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Yes! Would you prefer a word document or a Google doc? (If you want a Gdoc I'll probably send you the whole thing and tell you where to stop.)

I don't think I have your email address. Can you PM it to me?

[nnozomi.livejournal.com]

Looks like you have people volunteering, but this sounds like the kind of thing I would very much like to read anyway; if I can be useful, let me know.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I think I have enough readers for now, but I'll keep you in mind for when it's all done and I'll need a fresh pair of eyes to see if it hangs together as a whole.

[nnozomi.livejournal.com]

Will look forward to it when you get to that stage.