Zara II Read-Through -- Repost

Okay, I wrote this huge long entry about reading the second draft of book two...and blogger ate it. I know better than to write a huge post and not save it. It's just that sometimes it works. And obviously, sometimes it doesn't.

Basically, what it amounted to was this -- the draft is not as horrible as I expected it to be. The first 90 pages or so are uneven to say the least. Confusing, meandering and over the top, to say more. But once the adventure really gets going, it's better.

I've struggled with the beginning of it from the very start. The beginning is the hook that draws readers in. You have ordinary life first, then the knock at the door, the phone call, the invitation arriving in the mail, whatever kicks off the adventure. But because this is a sequel with some time passing between the end of the first book and the start of the second, I'm not sure how much to show. So, that's an issue. Plus, two of my favorite scenes, at the moment, are flashbacks that occur about mid-way through the book even though the events being recalled take place before the start of the book. Which means they affect the beginning even though the reader may not be aware of it until much later. Is that a problem? I don't know yet.

I've also got some motivation issues to work out. Certain characters are behaving in rather uncharacteristic ways. They have their reasons, but people have to be able to understand why without burdening them with a whole bunch of exposition. For example, even though Zara knows bad stuff may be coming by way of the Observer Council, she still struggles with the idea of stepping up to be a leader. Doing what needs to be done. Putting personal needs behind those of the group. Most of her problem stems from self-doubt. Actually, almost all of it. She doesn't trust herself--after all, she nearly got all of them killed in the last book. Plus, she's got an enormous amount of guilt weighing on her. She took the lives of two aliens. Killing a living being changes how you think of yourself, I'd guess. And if it doesn't, then it should or else that person is a lot closer to being a cold-blooded killer than Zara is. She feels like a failure as a leader. Which shouldn't be a big deal as the strange prophecy only predicted her leading them against Nevan, which she did. Game over. Except Caelan doesn't think so.

But in the early stages of the book, her hesitance may come across as wimpiness. Which I DON'T want. I want people to see her fear and feel her doubt. Which sort of leads me back to the "how much do we need to understand before the actual adventure begins" dilemma.

So, I've got some work to do. But I hope to have a draft to my first readers, provided they are still willing, in the not-too-distant future. And an outline to RuneStone even more quickly than that.