Susan, I like the pitches very much, and I agree that it was probably best to make the suggested changes. I love the "meet in the middle" theme for Jack and Anna. I was thinking he must lose an arm when I read your drabble -- poor guy! I love a wounded -- emotionally, especially -- hero. And you have the first three chapters rewritten already! Go you.

Deb, I'd love to read what you have of the new book if you can forgive me for still reading through Matty (very slowly, obviously).

(FTR, though I admit to Marty Stu-ing Jack a bit in my first draft pitch above, I want full credit for saying nothing whatsoever about his amber-brown eyes or tuneful baritone voice.)

I've sort of lost my way. Kind of mostly feeling foolish for starting. Having enormous organizational issues. Stories are feeling so random and not coming together to form a picture, and mostly, I'm having such huge trouble thinking of interesting essays to provide transitions between essays so people who arent us know what I'm talking about.

Without a clear organizational structure, i.e, a way for a reader to get from essay to essay without confusion about Who These People Are, I'm just, GAH!

Without a clear organizational structure, i.e, a way for a reader to get from essay to essay without confusion about Who These People Are, I'm just, GAH!

Is there anything I can do to help? Cause organizing things such that there are fluid transitions is one of my obsessions.

Allyson, deep breaths. 'tis cool. The structure is the easiest thing to fix, because it can be done at the end; that's the nice thing about this kind of non-fiction work. Since there's no story arc to maintain, interstices can be done at any time.

And where is it written that you have to have essays as transitions between other essays? Anything is possible as transition, surely: interviews, for instance. Someone like Shrift, who deals with fic and fic sites. Any one of a bazillion specialty people you know who work in or around fandom. (edit: that's meant to mean that quickies conversations with other people in fandom can offer a nice interestingly lit pathway through that particular garden, for those of us who don't go deep into it.)

Not to worry about the linkage. If the essays are the core of the book, get as many of them as make you happy together first. The rest is addable.

Ooh. Deb has a sweet idea with the interviews.

Allyson, Deb's ideas of interviews is great. What about short news items, too? You might have an issue with securing rights to use them, though -- but you could take what you know and do a timeline of sorts, too. Even just a page between essays, with the simple facts: On Date Blah de Blah, Angel premiered. On Date Blah de Blah, the first Posting Board Party was held. Something like that.

Deb is totally right about structure, too -- think of it as a gorgeous handmade necklace. Everyone will want the beautifully shiny hand-painted beads; they won't care so much how it's strung together. And you'd paint the beads first, and wait to figure out what to string them with at the end. Get out the good stuff, the stuff you write so well -- the sharp, funny, wry, honest meat of it.

The nice thing about interviews, and why they become the easy perfect framework for this sort of thing, is that they're completely non-intrusive on Allyson's POV. Literally, rather than "I met Fangurl when..." it becomes "Fangurl got involved at the WriteNow! board after a weird little run-in with destiny in Chicago. As she tells it..."

I wrote something yesterday that I'd like some feedback on, if that's okay. Not necessarily nuts-and-bolts craft feedback, because it's just a first draft, and I play too fast and loose with the verb tenses. I already know it needs editing and polishing.

What I was wanting more is feedback on -- does it make sense, does it transition well (because I suspect it doesn't), is it worth continuing to work on, does it leave you with any questions you think I need to answer in the piece -- stuff like that.

I read it to my small group at class last night, and they found the tone of it to be overwhelmingly a tone I didn't really intend (which I won't tell you, so as not to bias you). I posted it in my LJ, but only got one comment, and I don't know if it's because it (a) sucks, (b) suffers from the aforementioned tone, or (c) is too much raw emotion and therefore no one knows how to address it.

So -- can I post it here? It's not particularly long.

Steph, hell yes. Although, did you filter the list to read it at LJ? I don't remember seeing it.