On Sunday while sitting and listening to the conversations in the second session of the editing course I an attending. I heard our tutor use the term or phrase, ‘purple prose.’. Of course with all the information my tired grey matter was soaking up I missed the full understanding of the phrase.

Now because it’s a writing course I took a wild assumption it wasn’t a new song by the formally alive artist, formally known as Prince. So I enquired the all knowing, all seeing, great and powerful wizard of Google.

Well, I couldn’t see any song with that title. But I did find out what the term meant, in a literary sense. This intake of understanding, while enlightening, preceded a hysterical scream and a series of plaster-shattering thumps.

Sitting back in my chair, brushing the plaster dust from my face and hair, I concluded that unless I changed something in my style, any book cover my story would need will be a gorgeous monotone of violet.

Now back to this sessions homework.

My first attempt with a short synopsis left me feeling a flat after reading it and I reckon it is maybe a little too wordy? But I think the latest attempt is getting closer to the mark.

This is the newest version

BJ returns home to Queensland, disillusioned after serving in Afghanistan as an Australian soldier. Struggling with the life of a civilian, he heads westward to a new job. On the way, BJ encounters a dimensional rift in the guise of a storm.

Unable to escape, he is brutally transported from 2015 and stranded on an alternate, near future Earth. One which is vastly different from his own. He discovers a world recovering from an apocalyptic war against alien invaders.

Fighting for not just his life, BJ must manoeuvre his way through Nomadic tribes, treacherous Roman overlords and their corrupt militant police force to find his chance at personal redemption.

Below is the previous ho-hum version.

BJ is an ex-Australian soldier disillusioned by his time in Afghanistan and not fitting into a civilian life back home. On his way to a new job, he encounters a dimensional rift which takes him from 2015, trapping him in a near future world vastly different from his own, regardless of its similarities.

BJ’s new world is recovering from decades of devastation after being invaded by an alien race of modern Romans. Can BJ find his way through Nomadic tribes, scheming and treacherous Roman overlords, their local militant police force with its bullies and corruption?

Once I completed the first draft and typed those final two words… ‘The End‘ the sense of accomplishment was amazing. However, I knew that was only the first phase. What was to follow are times more challenging than actually writing it.

Remember, I’ve no literary scholarship or doctorate behind me so after giving myself a brief respite and taking the advice of someone, I downloaded Grammarly. Why did I get an editing programme after the first draft? The primary reason was to have the words put down and MS word helped with keeping the page free of red, blue and green wiggly lines. It didn’t matter if they were the correct words or even misspelt and as for grammar and punctuation again they weren’t as important.

Of course, there is the age-old adage; Pride cometh before a fall. Yes, I could have stubbornly continued with the editing process until it either overwhelmed me. Leaving me in a dark corner curled up in the foetal position inanely babbling to myself. But occasionally I’m smart enough to know when to rein in my pride. Hence I understood I would need more than one or more computer programmes helping me with the process. So I signed up for an editing course which deals specifically with book manuscripts.

The first thing I gleaned was if I was to have any shot at a  publisher looking at my book I must get it well below 129500 words. Instantly I felt the hairs on my neck rise in protest at such a thought. These are the words I spent lunchtimes weekend and an average of five hours a night for six months with only a few nights or days of in respite. So why should I just pull them from the garden of my work like so many weeds?

When the tutor asked how we each did our editing I proudly told her I searched for common, overused and lazy words. Within seconds I felt the wind taken from my proud wings when she pointed out in a positive way I was just line editing. What I and the others in my class need to do is “Edit.”

With that done we were given a task to complete which was writing a chapter and scene plan from the first draft. Now either by intention or design completing this chapter plan separated me from my manuscript Something which enabled me to view it in a much more detached manner.

The result after three weeks is a leaner manuscript because I found so so many areas of to much detail in the showing, where simply telling would have sufficed. I also had repetitive prose throughout different chapters, and dialogue was trimmed with a simple show or tell to carry the message.

I listened to a couple of published authors speak of whole chapters being cut or skimmed by their editors. Ha, not me I thought. Ha, I was wrong… After saving a copy, I did just that with a complete chapter. A click and drag of the mouse followed by a tap of the delete key and in the blink of an eye thousands of words vanished from the story, making no difference to its flow.

My manuscript now has only twenty-five chapters and just over 114500 words. I still need to work on the lazy and repetitive words and with Grammarly’s help find others which can be cut or sentences reworded to shave off a few more words.

And so the work continues…

After March, I entered an online creative writing course. Again my tutor was full of praise and respectful criticisms combined with suggestions. It was like an injection of adrenaline. The voice of all my characters changed as did my scene breaks and endings. With renewed vigour, I powered along putting pressure on my hero and protagonists alike. I also worked on making BJ more vulnerable.

There was never a doubt he could handle himself in a fight, but I felt he needed the little things like self-doubt, A shyness around women and a slight fear of spiders. I didn’t want him to be the cliché self-assured, suave and charismatic hero.

Then in June almost six months since the first keystroke I typed ‘The End.’ I had finished the first draft of my first manuscript. (Que Handles ‘Fire Works overture.) So what did I have after all that?
Firstly, the final plot: – My hero travels a path starting with confusion and loss to becoming a saviour of sorts.

BJ is an ex-Australian soldier disillusioned by his time in Afghanistan and not fitting into a civilian life back home. On his way to a new job, he encounters a dimensional rift which takes him from 2015, trapping him in a near future world vastly different from his own, regardless of its similarities. BJ this new world recovering from decades of devastation after being invaded by an alien race of modern Romans. Can BJ find his way through Nomadic tribes, scheming and treacherous Roman overlords, their local militant police force with its bullies and corruption?

Genre: – Speculative fiction with dystopian and post-apocalyptic themes.
The chapter count: – 31
The word count: – 129500
Now comes the cold emotional part of editing…