Fractal Peace: Third Draft Complete!

After a break over Christmas and the New Year, I got back to addressing the feedback I received on Fractal Peace, the first part of the duology concluded by Fractal War. I had a few of my own concerns by then too.

Nothing structural was needed. As I progressed, it was clear that I didn't need to add any new scenes. All parts of the story were there. Besides minor tweaks, everything revolved around making the characterisations consistent and believable. In particular, their motivations were suspect at times. I'd left too much context in my head or worded a few things ambiguously.

There were a few things in the action that I realised I could improve: less about what happened and more about why and when something happened. Well, today, that's all complete. Phew.

Somehow, despite adding no new scenes, the word count has increased from 78,000 to 90,700. That definitely justifies it being a separate novel from the second book, although the fact that it had its own arc and is told differently from the second part was more important,

Looking back, that extra content is spread pretty evenly throughout. Most will was added with extended conversations and additional context within existing scenes. There was one significant anomaly in the background of one of the secondary characters that I fixed by introducing a new named character, Kurt. He was there before, unnamed, but now he has a minor but extended role that will stretch into the second book.

The most significant changes were in the final two chapters on either side of the last character story. I wasn't happy that they set things up in a way that gelled as I wanted with the start of Fractal War, particularly the relationship between Novak and Polk. These were largely rewritten and significantly expanded, even though nothing really different happened. It kept me happy.

I'll need to do another draft. For a start, I expect I've made a few mistakes along the way. This will be a simple one, nothing more than reading through and fixing individual wording, not adding new content. The exception will be if I get feedback on the second book that merits a little setup in the first. It should be a relatively quick exercise though.

First comes the third draft of Fractal War. With excellent timing, I should get feedback on that novel in the next few days. In the meantime, I've my own set of notes for changes to flesh out. I'll provide an update when that's all done and what my plans are for publishing the novel. Although I'm delighted with the story, presenting a duology to a literary agent is more challenging. I'll see how I feel. I may go straight to self-publishing.

P.S. No sign of the badger in the back garden since Christmas. Oh well, it was incredible while it lasted!