Welcome to the wonderful world of editing!
After a wearisome six hours of hacking and slashing away at my manuscript that would put my
Diablo II days to shame, I comitted to an undesired decision--namely, I cut the main antagonist out of the novel. He's gone. You won't ever see him.
You never even learned his name.
I had nothing against him. Really. He was a lovely enough bloke, I suppose, but he was lacking in the personality department and frankly he was an embarrassment of a villain. How do I know this? Well, when your antagonist's
minions seem more menacing than
their own boss I think it's time to consider scrapping the head honcho and rethinking the power structure of your baddies.
It hasn't been a total loss, however. I'd like to formally congratulate Madame White, that unseemly demonic figure who, if she had a flavour, I could only describe as honeyed gravel. MW, you've earned yourself a promotion to main antagonist of the novel; enjoy it, because you've certainly earned it. My condolences to the main protagonist and to the reader--this will inevitably move the novel to a heavier and darker direction than I had initially intended.
Another realization that I came upon is that with the removal of my male antagonist, my novel is now almost completely dominated by women--something that I had not intended, nor thought possible when I began the manuscript towards the end of 2009 or when I hit the final keys to produce "The End" a year later. Of course, "The End" is merely for the amusement of us writers who are well aware that finishing a novel is only the beginning of our labour.
...Where was I? Oh yes, the saturation of women in my novel. Unexpected, but a welcome addition. Although I have noticed while stalking many of my fellow bloggers that there exists a general sense of uneasiness when it comes to writing outside of their gender identity. Maybe it's my lifelong affinity for David Bowie and Marilyn Manson, or maybe it's my pronounced lack of traditionally "masculine" qualities, but I don't find this to be a daunting task. Challenging, that is for certain, but not something to be feared. Regardless, fundamentally we're all the same. Men and women alike inherently possess some enviable qualities and do their best to hide or otherwise mask their qualities which are not so pleasant. Men and women both want to make a difference, to be remembered, to make an impact. Be it man or woman, we all shed tears of sadness and happiness, feel the sting of regret, and endure years of pain and mixed blessings. Ultimately we're all marching toward the grave. When it comes right down to it, are we really that different?
Tangential soapbox aside, I'd also like to announce that my main character is no longer a man. I think he will make a splendiferous she. I was asked by a close friend if changing the gender of my main character would complicate the love interest, what with having to turn her into a man to make this a heterosexually approved novel. Ultimately however, I have decided that any book that dabbles in vampirism, demonic figures, our baser instincts and unconventional relationships couldn't possibly be hurt with some lesbianism thrown into the mix.
So, I've completely decimated the natural order of my manuscript in six short hours. Who wants a drink?
Once again, another awesome list from Accredited Online Colleges: 50 indispensable African-American novels. How many have you read? How many do you even recognize? I'm ashamed to admit that I've only read two of them; I should probably make an Amazon purchase soon and remedy that...
