I continue to work on The Last Lace Reader (working title subject to revision as The Last Web Reader). This is a young adult fantasy set in a world where magic exists but most cultures have chosen to restrict the magical races to the fringes.
I began the novel for Cynthia Whitcomb’s Screenwriting Class so I could apply her methods to a new venture rather than a completed project. Fortunately, the world building and research had been completed years ago for an earlier novel and amended for subsequent stories. Other than screenplay formatting, everything covered in Cynthia’s class is applicable to novels. While most of the writers in the Fall 2015 class were screenwriters, there were a few novelists.
The class included scene readings and comments from fellow classmates as well as Cynthia. At the conclusion of the class we had the wonderful opportunity to submit a completed screenplay or up to 100 pages of our novel to Cynthia for her professional review.
Cynthia’s editorial comments on my opening scenes were in line with my own assessments of the first draft. Her words were very encouraging.
Writers work in a vacuum. And because we work alone it is easy to lose perspective. Most often we are overly critical of our work. This makes us fearful of putting it out for others to see. So encouraging words from fellow writers, and especially those who’ve been successful out in the real world, mean a lot to those of us still toiling away in private.
I think the the books read, conferences attended, classes/workshops taken are beginning to gel. I’m on the verge of figuring out this novel writing thing.
Mary S. Potter 