The team have been working for almost a year now and it's just 24 days to the deadline for The Book!
Will we do it?
My guess is we will just about make it although it will be very close. The first draft of the final chapter has been completed and the first 16 chapters have been veneered and edited.
It has been a huge challenge and everyone is keen to meet the objective of completing a manuscript worthy to send to potential publishers or agents by December 31st 2009.
The story itself has exceeded our most optimistic expectations and will not only make a great read but, given the world meeting about to start in Copenhagen this week and the likely activities resulting over the next few months, it is also extremely timely.
Pete
Monday, December 7, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
The 'Veneer' Writer
Today we hold a vote to choose one writer from our team who will 'tweak' what has been written to their own style of expression. We call this role a 'veneer' writer as they will not change the substance or structure of the story but will give it a single voice.
Whilst we are celebrating the diversity of a collaborative work, we do want the story to read as if a single writer was responsible.
In most parts, the veneer may be very thin or non-existent but in others a little deeper. The objective is to have a consistent voice through each thread of the story but we also have a deadline to meet!
Whilst the veneer writer is at work, with one or more helpers, the remaining team will focus upon the few structural questions raised in our read-through and then final chapter.
I'm guessing the next few weeks will fly past as we work to get everything completed by December 31st!
Pete
Whilst we are celebrating the diversity of a collaborative work, we do want the story to read as if a single writer was responsible.
In most parts, the veneer may be very thin or non-existent but in others a little deeper. The objective is to have a consistent voice through each thread of the story but we also have a deadline to meet!
Whilst the veneer writer is at work, with one or more helpers, the remaining team will focus upon the few structural questions raised in our read-through and then final chapter.
I'm guessing the next few weeks will fly past as we work to get everything completed by December 31st!
Pete
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Latest News!
The collaborative novel remains ahead of schedule and we have now completed a complete 'read through' of all the chapters written to date. We did pick up quite a number of 'typos' as you would expect from the editing process and there are some tweaks to be made but nothing major.
This leaves only the final chapter and our creative team is now working on the conclusion to our story.
We were relieved to hear from our writer in Manila after the severe storms in that part of the world. When this is all over, we should draw up a list of the catastrophes that have affected our writing team through the course of one year on this great planet.
Pete
This leaves only the final chapter and our creative team is now working on the conclusion to our story.
We were relieved to hear from our writer in Manila after the severe storms in that part of the world. When this is all over, we should draw up a list of the catastrophes that have affected our writing team through the course of one year on this great planet.
Pete
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Passage to Redemption - Chapter 20 Beckons!
Today we are reviewing chapter 20 which means there are only a few more chapters left to edit.
We have unearthed a number of typos and some inconsistencies that will now need to be ironed out. In addition, the final chapter will be drafted when the reviews are complete.
This week has seen more catastrophic conditions around the world and we are waiting to hear from our writer in Manila following the floods there and storms across South East Asia. It was only a few weeks Istanbul was similarly devastated by floods and we were concerned about our writer there - until she popped up on Facebook that is!
The project continues to devour a considerable chunk of our lives around the world but also continues to inspire us.
We have unearthed a number of typos and some inconsistencies that will now need to be ironed out. In addition, the final chapter will be drafted when the reviews are complete.
This week has seen more catastrophic conditions around the world and we are waiting to hear from our writer in Manila following the floods there and storms across South East Asia. It was only a few weeks Istanbul was similarly devastated by floods and we were concerned about our writer there - until she popped up on Facebook that is!
The project continues to devour a considerable chunk of our lives around the world but also continues to inspire us.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Chapter 15 Already!
The read through is going well.
Already we have 14 chapters under our belts and tomorrow we focus upon number 15. So far, I have been mainly interested in how the story as a whole hangs together, how readable it is and how I would feel about it if I had purchased The Book.
I'm delighted with the result, which you only really appreciate when you do stand back from the keyboard and read it through afresh.
Others in the team have been very focussed upon the editing tasks - thank goodness ! So they have been spotting any errors or typos, as well as looking for continuity.
This exercise has proved extremely worth while and I feel when we reach our penultimate chapter, we will have achieved a more useful perspective on the best way to deal with the final chapter. That's the plan anyway!
Pete
Already we have 14 chapters under our belts and tomorrow we focus upon number 15. So far, I have been mainly interested in how the story as a whole hangs together, how readable it is and how I would feel about it if I had purchased The Book.
I'm delighted with the result, which you only really appreciate when you do stand back from the keyboard and read it through afresh.
Others in the team have been very focussed upon the editing tasks - thank goodness ! So they have been spotting any errors or typos, as well as looking for continuity.
This exercise has proved extremely worth while and I feel when we reach our penultimate chapter, we will have achieved a more useful perspective on the best way to deal with the final chapter. That's the plan anyway!
Pete
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Good news, bad news
Illness has blighted a few of our writers and our first case of Swine Flu has appeared on the scene in the USA.
The recent floods in Istanbul must also be making it very hard for our writer there and the economic situation around the world has brought it's own pressures for our team.
However, we expect to be fighting fit again very soon and have now embarked on another initiative!
With 23 out of 24 chapters completed, you can imagine we are all very focused upon our finale. But we have taken this opportunity to stop for a few weeks whilst we re-read everything we done so far. Starting yesterday, we embarked upon a 'one chapter per day' initiative and we will read and comment as we go so that our final chapter flows seamlessly from the story so far. Of course, we all know pretty much how it will end but there are a number of options on the best way to incorporate this.
Chapter 1 is already done and we are pretty pleased with ourselves - it's a great opening!
Pete
The recent floods in Istanbul must also be making it very hard for our writer there and the economic situation around the world has brought it's own pressures for our team.
However, we expect to be fighting fit again very soon and have now embarked on another initiative!
With 23 out of 24 chapters completed, you can imagine we are all very focused upon our finale. But we have taken this opportunity to stop for a few weeks whilst we re-read everything we done so far. Starting yesterday, we embarked upon a 'one chapter per day' initiative and we will read and comment as we go so that our final chapter flows seamlessly from the story so far. Of course, we all know pretty much how it will end but there are a number of options on the best way to incorporate this.
Chapter 1 is already done and we are pretty pleased with ourselves - it's a great opening!
Pete
Thursday, September 3, 2009
September and the climax!
With 23 chapters under our belt, the final '24' is now under way and it promises to be a real cliff hanger!
One or two of the team are waning - it's been a long hall - but the others are picking up the workload and driving on to the end. It's been a fantastic effort and when I read the manuscript I can't believe it's been created by so many hands.
Over the coming weeks our entire focus will be on finishing and then going over our work to ensure we haven't missed anything.
Then the next stage begins and we will start to look earnestly for a publisher!
One or two of the team are waning - it's been a long hall - but the others are picking up the workload and driving on to the end. It's been a fantastic effort and when I read the manuscript I can't believe it's been created by so many hands.
Over the coming weeks our entire focus will be on finishing and then going over our work to ensure we haven't missed anything.
Then the next stage begins and we will start to look earnestly for a publisher!
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