I just finished the first full reading of Len's story, the necessary first step in revision, and most of it doesn't suck. In fact, the first 17 chapters are pretty darn good. Chapter 18 is a mess, but I knew that when I wrote it, and the action stuff is better than I thought it was. Not good, by any means, but not as bad as I thought.
Now I'll have to see if I can get advice on the guns and horses and fishing, which is no small commitment as it involves asking non-writers to read parts of an unpolished manuscript. I've noted two places where I'll have to work backwards and fill in some earlier stuff, 18th Chapter needs its complete reengineering, at some point I'll have to cut length (I always have to cut length), and eventually I need a title. Then comes the really hard part - persuading someone that there's a market for a lesbian western.
But it's a good start. I'm pretty pleased with myself.
Good for you Peni! And hey, if there's a market for a movie/story about gay cowboys, certainly there's one for a lesbian western!
ReplyDeleteLily Tomlin has been known to invite the public to her rehearsals, using a sign advertising "Free Fan Torture".
ReplyDeleteWell, of course you don't know anything about guns, horses or fishing -- you're a woman. Just as James Tiptree Jr. proved conclusively that he was not a woman by writing about same....
Hey, women know all about horses...or we all did when we were 10. In fact the friend I'm going to ask to vet the horse parts (most of the book, alas; hard lines on her and I can't blame her if she doesn't do it) is female.
ReplyDeleteI don't know much about guns because they terrify me, not because I'm female. And in any case a book set at the end of the Civil War requires specialist gun knowledge. Just because you can field-strip an M-16 doesn't mean you know squat about the guns available in western Texas in 1865. Fortunately I have a particularly knowledgeable friend who has already given me the advice I needed to write the draft. Whether he can bear to read what I've got at this stage is another questions.
And I don't know any fishermen at all, which is potentially a problem.