Editing Away

This week I have been furiously editing!



First off, I settled the timeline of The Marquis' Daughter. Get ready! I decided against the Baroque era for that, and decided on the mid-Georgian period (1750's-60's). I love the Georgian era and it really fits my story wonderfully. Far enough back that I can put in my highly fictional pirate theme, but modern enough for telescopes and more familiar ship details; the story fits right into the era of the Great Awakening, when relationship with God was emphasized, rather than formal/nominal "religion"-- I want my characters to have an actual walk with the Lord and during that era there were more people who did then during the Baroque era, when everything was a battle between denominations and over outward things like politics and whether or not a Christian should go to the theatre. Another plus for the Georgian era is that the Georgian lady is how I have always imagined Dreia-- the dress, hair, manners, etc.... it's so "Dreia"! I love it.

Anyway, so I printed out the whole first part so that I could read over it to see what I needed to change. I was overwhelmed at all that needed utterly demolished, revamped, improved, and added, SO.... the whole thing is being re-written! I can just hear some of you groaning. Here are a few of the many changes I am making. DO NOT READ THE FOLLOWING if you have not read the book as it contains SPOILERS. Unless, of course, you don't mind spoilers; then you are welcome. :-)

• Dreia's name. Who ever heard of a person named Dreia in the 1700s hundreds-- or any time before the mid-1900's for that matter!? I think I have settled on Sophia, since it has a lot of vowels like "Dreia" so wouldn't be too hard to switch to. I'm pretty sure the name Sophia would have been used in those days; plus, the name already holds a special place in my heart. If you think Sophia wouldn't have been a name in that era, PLEASE comment and let me know. The other options are Katharine "Kitty", and Clara.


• The development of the character Isaac. So much is lacking in my present manuscript. You never really know who he is or where he is from, and when he gets saved it's kind of like, "He did what? When did this happen?" The whole character is entirely undeveloped. Now I am planning on getting into his thoughts more, showing his background more, and stepping with him through his journey to salvation instead of popping it upon my readers in a flashback.


• The "plans" scenario. Totally needed changed. Now this is the scenario: Sophia's father, the marquis, is involved in a group of people who are trying to track and stop the pirates. They discover the pirates' headquarters, and the marquis sends Sophia with his plans to his magistrate friend, Aaron Shwederer. The pirates also have been spying and know the marquis' plans, so they intercept the ship on the way to the Isle of Wight and capture Sophia in order to stop her from conveying the plans. After Sophia's rescue, the pirates will start making plans for the new headquarters since they know they're on the verge of being caught. However, Isaac gets saved, leaves, and tells their new plans to the marquis. Then there is the scenario of going after the pirates and attacking their new headquarters.


• Various characters. Too many are entirely steriotype; almost indistinguishable from the next. I am planning on adding more colour to characters such as Esther's mother, the twins, the marquis, etc.


• The pirates. THANK YOU to Matthew and Mark Havener, and Michael Bollinger, for your ideas on improving those rascals. The boys suggested me making them more violent. Since I want this to be a book that I would read if I was to pull it off the shelf at a bookstore, I don't want to make them too violent; however, I am going to try to make Patch a little more serious (not so crazy) and Darkie, of course, is a little dumb but still bad, of course. Also, Isaac has not been with Darkie since the beginning, but is a recent protogee whose main job is writing for the illiterate Darkie. (This is due to the boys telling me that they never heard of a pirate band that stayed together for more than a few years; they all killed each other off. :-P )


• The rescue scene. I'm keeping those plans to myself. Ha ha ha. :-D

Well, there are more, but I don't want to give everything away, now, do I? :-)

I made a timeline (on the flowered paper in the picture) which is helping me keep the events of the story straight.

Amanda and Beth also read it and have given me good ideas for improving the story.

For those who are interested in reading the book when I'm done, comment or email me and I'll put your names on a list so I don't forget. :-) I want to get it done in a month, but this month will be very busy so it may be longer.

More plans for my Kami story too; I am absolutely in love with my characters in that already. :-D

The 18th Century Lady:

Below is a sample of Georgian fashion from the film Amazing Grace (I haven't seen this movie yet but I have some screenstills from it, including the following.) The style below is similar to what I picture Dreia/Sophia wearing-- even the hair. :-) (A little higher collar though.)

My Writing Verse:
"Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established."