True
There I was.
Forty-eight hours away from deadline and A TEAR IN THE SKY, book three of the Templar Chronicles trilogy, was all but done.
The rough draft was finished. The first and second set of revisions were completed and I was in the midst of the third and final read-through, anticipating the end of a couple of months of hard work on this particular volume and three years of the same on the trilogy itself.
One final read through and then off it would go to my editor, who had been waiting patiently after giving me that extra couple of weeks to be certain the book was just right.
But wait.
What’s this?
As I near the end of the book, as I’m reading through the final penultimate chapters when all is revealed, when the reader finally gets to see the bigger picture, finally understands the plans of the Adversary, understands how the shade of Cade’s dead wife fits into those plans, and stands at the brink of disaster with Cade himself as he faces off against his long-time nemesis…things fall flat.
Something was wrong. Something I didn’t see the first couple of times through the process. Something that couldn’t go ignored.
It took me half a day of looking, but I finally tracked down the culprit. It was hidden between the lines, in the underlying theme that had subconsciously invaded my work, just as it always did, but this time the actions of the story did not support the theme that had crept along between them across three volumes. Books one and two were fine, but this one, book three, was…well…off.
Thirty hours or so to deadline.
The book was readable as it was. It was more than readable. It was pretty darn good.
But it wasn’t right.
And that stopped me in my tracks. I had an important decision to make. Turn the book in on time, expect some revisions, and wait to make the necessary changes at that point OR blown my deadline, work my ass off for a few more weeks to make it right, and ride out my editor’s exasperation that I’m blowing the schedule by at least a month, maybe more.
I’ll admit it. I was tempted to just call it quits, turn in the book, and hope to fix it all later.
But in the end, the story wouldn’t let me.
It cried out to be corrected. It knew where it needed to go, whether or not I was smart enough to see it, and all it wanted was to be given the chance to get there. I looked closer. The problem was back in chapter eleven. I had zigged when I should have zagged and now one of the major plot lines ran contrary to the theme of the series. It would take a major rewrite. Vital parts of chapters 12-19 would have to be changed and everything after that would simply have to be tossed out.
A good third of the book would have to be rewritten.
The rational side of me said “no freakin way,” but the writer side of my soul, the one who has to be true to the story above all else, that side of me said “if you just do this, then you can…” – and I was off and running.
I’m three weeks over deadline now and I’m still not done, but I’m closing in on the end once more. Another week at most, is my guess. I’ve worked hard, but I’m also conscious of the fact that the writing has come much easier this time around, that I’m not constantly fighting an uphill battle to get the words on the page. I’d been so focused on the goal that I hadn’t seen the carnage I’d left behind me in my wake.
The book is better now, I’ll admit it. It reads better and I know my fans will enjoy it more. Perhaps most important of all, I know that I did everything I could to do the story justice.
And that was key.
I’d forgotten a very simple rule I’d learned a long time ago.
Be true to the story and it will be true to your readers as well.
It’s one I’ll remember next time around, I assure you.
