Sunday 23 June 2013

Revisiting My Manuscript




My son Thomas cleaned up the desktop on my laptop and it is working much better.  The other day, I looked at a couple of older versions of my manuscript I'm Just a Home Child.  After taking a long break from my story, upon re-reading it I've decided that one of my earlier versions is superior to my most current one.  While my current version is structured as a day in the life of Daisy Blay, my older version divides itself between industrial Victorian London and rural Ontario.  Whereas my current version focusses only on Daisy, my older version highlights the sister-brother relationship through dialogue.  Whereas my current version is "short", my older version is long.  

My task is to combine the two versions, keeping the most valuable parts from each.  I feel that it is vital to leave in the Victorian London section to give readers a sense of how destitute Daisy was.  I also feel I need to leave in the sister-brother relationship, one that is put on hold for five years, but is renewed.  I also feel like I need to leave in the introduction which features Daisy in the kitchen with her granddaughter baking butter tarts.  The location is Niagara Falls, a city known by both Canadians and Americans alike.  If I want to cater to the American market, I need to keep this paragraph.  I do like my appeal to the five senses in the second version.  I also like the timeline.  If only I could condense my older version just a bit more.   Back to the drawing board I go.   



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