'Watching the Pool' at EDP and my WIP

Having left the world of government with a vow never to use another acronym as long as I live, here I am doing it again. *Sigh*

For non-writer folk (that is, people who don't have dialogue-testing conversations with plants, have more blood in their system than tea and who don't check ICanHasCheezburger every fifteen minutes) EDP is the webzine (web-based magazine) Every Day Poets and WIP is my Work In Progress.





Today EDP have put up my poem 'Summer Holiday: Watching the Pool' on their site. EDP is fun because people can rate your poem and leave feedback and it is always good to hear what other people think, especially people who don't know you. Even if it isn't always 100% positive it is always a good lesson for the future.

Now, on to my WIP, the dystopian novel 'Maynard Hill'. I put up a post last summer about the feedback I had had from my novel. While it wasn't all bad (they liked my writing style and opening) they felt 'disappointed' with the story. Everything they said I could see where they were coming from but I just didn't have the energy to start all over again.

However, when I was researching my article about dystopian films, since published in MediaMagazine, I got excited about the genre again. I can do this! I said to the plant.

So I opened that file I hadn't touched in months and went to work. The WIP is now down from just over 100,000 words to 50,000 words. Talk about killing your darlings. I have basically pruned out the dull bits and I'm going to plot out a whole new subplot which will weave into the story and then take it onwards to an more explosive ending set later in the future. Ka-pow!

I have learned such a lot writing flash fiction and short stories and I hope these lessons will translate across. I have thought so much recently about what makes a story; flash fiction can be likened to one of those sketches that only comprises a few well-placed pencil marks but shows character, movement and theme within that.

Wish me luck.