Have to rip out the co-author's chapters

Painful, but not as messy as ripping out his heart.

Allyson, can I just say that when I read you were pulling his stuff I exhaled a huge sigh of relief? I mean, HUGE.

I really do hope he can be disappointed and motivated by that enough to work on his own projects, but realistically, if he hasn't touched this in a year, that's pretty much a default on his part. We're all busy, that's no excuse. And yes, I'd get the telling over and done with, and let him deal with the fallout from his lack of action.

It's a wonderful concept, the character is so adorable and easy to identify with, the story is charming and so perfect for kids and the people who read to kids. It will find its market, I'm sure of it. I hate that you have to re-harrow those parts you didn't write, but it will be so much better when it's done.

Why am I the only one who did not see this?

Well, you had a lot of other stuff on your plate at the time, and halving your writing commitment seemed like a good idea. His stuff was unproven, and you/we/he kept waiting for the crit to take hold, the switch to flip, and him to hit the groove.

Didn't happen. Not your fault, surely. Maybe not his either. Writing may not be his gig at all--I'm sure he has other abilities that he's happy with.

Time to cut your losses and move ahead. It's a great book. It needs to see shelves, and kids' hands and minds. It will make people happy, and you can feel good about having done that.

Yeah, if he can't manage to do anything with it in a year, that does seem like he's abandoning it on his own.

My experience working with other writers has been that the ones who think that they do a good job and that every word they write is golden are not very good writers and a pain to work with.

Wha--what?? But! I take dictation from the Scroll of Universal Understanding! The cosmos turn on the purity of every word that flows from my honeyed pen!

The horror, the horror . . .

I banged out a new Chapter 6 last night despite being pretty miserably sick. I have some corrections to make and then I'll move on the revised chapter 7. I really like the chapter ending locations for revised chapter 6, 7, and 8. These 8 chapters are what I consider the opening of the book so getting to that point in the revision will be a milestone of sorts.

I had a friend from high school I reconnected with about the time I started working on my book. He's a big fantasy reader so he wanted to take a look at my rough draft and I was on chapter 5 at the time. Just recently he gave me comments on chapter 1. I have now lapped him.

I'm wondering if my main character needs to have some more inner monologue. Maybe a bit more of seeing what is happening in that head would give the character some more depth. OTOH, I don't want to convey things that should be conveyed via actions and dialogue.

I also wonder if I need some more description of physical settings.

Revising is tough especially since the draft kinda sucks.

Yeah, if he can't manage to do anything with it in a year, that does seem like he's abandoning it on his own.

Yep. I suspect he might be relieved to have you say "This isn't working out."

And Allyson, you are not a hack. You are a talented writer suffering from a crisis of confidence.

ION, I have to write an email to my agent about an idea for an illustrated children's book. And, um, work on the proposal for the book I've already talked to her about.