Editing the Middle Passage
The plan is set. The outline in place. The closet is coming out. The two narrow doors in and out of the passage will both become double doorways, giving the little library a welcoming appearance from all the rooms, while becoming a room itself. The unfinished side of the room will be finished exactly like the finished side and it’ll all be tied together with the marvelous old molding. “It will look like it’s always been this way,” Dawson assures me.
When editing a novel, we need to look at the overall story plan. The arc, the story progression; where is it going? What is in that middle passage that weighs it down, doesn’t add anything, just gives it heft, uses up space. Does it enlighten the plot, move the whole thing along? Or, is boredom setting in? Is it misdirected, away from the original plan? Is there a missed opportunity here? Take it apart. Rework it. Do something drastic; give it purpose. But get out of the languishing middle passage; put a new bend in the story arc or remove one that doesn’t work for you. Don’t leave the middle unfinished, boring, useless, a missed opportunity. Why have a wall when you can have a library?
We’re finishing week one of the new old house edit/restoration/rewrite project. It’s an exciting beginning.