Last Friday I spent additional time on my first chapter, then took an informal poll to see whether first-person was more effective or third. The unanimous response was third person, which was the way I was leaning so I felt reassured. I also did a little work on the last chapter and made a couple of reordering decisions but I realized I was tweaking the tiny stuff and that I need to have some reader feedback.
So today, I gave it one more look and then sent it to two trusted readers to see what they think. This is rather nerve-wracking as I want them to find it as intriguing as I do and of course I'm so close to it that I wouldn't be able to tell any more if it didn't work. So now I wait.
I'm ahead of schedule on this, having hoped to finish the second full draft by Aug 1. That means at the upcoming writing retreat, I can turn my attention to the poetry I wrote last winter and do revisions and begin to send some out. Or I can start a third novel, which has way more appeal to me.
In these last couple of months of rewriting and editing, I've missed the creative joy of first draft work, where anything goes and you can let the story lead you on in various directions. And I'm looking forward to getting back to that. I have several ideas for the next book but none have truly grabbed me yet. I'll keep you posted.
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