Chapter 1 Revisions
Over the last two weeks, I have found myself frequently thinking back on Chapter 1. I have not read it since I completed it, but instead have tried to focus on writing Chapter 2 (which is coming along and I hope to have finished when I post again in two weeks). Despite this focus on moving forward, my mind has lingered on numerous errors that I’m fairly certain I made.
These errors aren’t necessarily grammatical, nor do I think I left anything out. Rather, they are all small, narrative mistakes that most likely occurred because of the disjointed writing sessions it took to complete it. When I wrote the Prologue, I sat down on a Saturday and knocked out the 800 words over the span of a few hours. When I occasionally walked away to spend time with my family, I remembered exactly where I left off and what sentence was coming next.
To the contrary, “The Takeoff” was written whenever I got a chunk of time to dedicate to it. Out of fear of getting into the cycle of constant editing and rewriting that I had fallen into with all my other attempts at writing Ptolemy’s Tales, I didn’t read anything that I had previously written. Sometimes I didn’t get another chance to write until a few days had passed, but I knew I needed to just jump in.
Finished is better than perfect. (At this point, I’m not sure if I’m writing that to reiterate the goal of this website to the audience or to remind myself to keep moving forward. Probably both.)
Since I haven’t finished Chapter 2, and two weeks have passed since my last post, I decided to appease my brain. Here are the edits that I think will need to be made to Chapter 1:
1. Make sure it’s clear that Ptolemy’s “Uncle Rob” is also the “Commander Scott” that is mentioned by Yoonah.
2. Make sure all characters are named at some point. I can’t remember if I used Ptolemy’s name. May not have used one of the other three either.
3. After breaking through the atmosphere, Ptolemy feels the pull of gravity stop. However, he then goes to the front of the ship. Did he walk? Did he float in zero-Gs? Make this explicit.
4. The moon wouldn’t be that large that quickly.
From memory, those are the parts that have bothered me. I don’t think any of them are chapter-ruining or horrendous in nature, but my somewhat-broken brain tends to hyper-focus on the flaws rather than what was done well. In fact, because my brain hasn’t thought about the Prologue in the last month, I’m extra proud of it. I’m sure there are errors there, but I’m still proud.
I hope you are enjoying the story thus far, and continue reading my blog. Please share this with others and provide any feedback. You can also follow me on Twitter @ptolemystales to keep up with when I add to the site.
Next up, Chapter 2: The L-Bo
