Good Book v. Great Book

Are you ready for this?

Once again, I am rewriting the book. Not tossing it out and starting over, no, but pretty darn close.

Here's the scoop. My fabulous agent Stan read the manuscript and what it came down to is that The Wielder is a Good book. He likes it, but it's not quite a Great book. We talked for a while about what makes a great book and I quickly saw what he meant.

You see, a Good book has likable characters, a fun plot, decent writing, and a satisfying end. All of these are present in the book as it stands. Cool.

A Great book is something else entirely. It has themes, deep and meaningful conflict (internal and external), perfect pacing, amazing characters, and a cracker-jack ending that leaves the read demanding the sequel RIGHT NOW!

oops.

After a few days kicking myself while I was down, I got back up and started reading up on theme, conflict, etc. I brainstormed, talked to myself, got to know my characters on a whole new level, and emerged a week or two later with a complete outline and a solid grasp of what I wanted for my darling book.

I'm making pretty drastic changes to the plot. Good guys are now bad, bad guys start off good, lots more chasing, fires, excitement--you know, fun stuff. Still, the bones remain the same. The heroine is still her sparkling, quirky little self.

Argh! Editing is NOT my favorite part of this job! Yet, I love the creative process and I do like seeing the book emerge better than ever. Well, like it or not, I've got to get this done so I'm out of here for now.

See ya when I come up for air again!