I had a terrible one at Miscon, and because I’m an idiot, I’m going to share it with the world. Fortunately, you can’t die of embarrassment! And it led to a very interesting (I hope) editorial experience. You just never know where inspiration is going to occur.
The Incident occurred at my reading, but to properly appreciate the horror, we need to back up to the writer’s workshop Patricia Briggs and I had with several blossoming authors earlier in the day. It was a great workshop…at least I thought it was. We had a good batch of stories, all with different, but mutually helpful problems. And I love Patty. Forget the fact she can write beautifully, she’s one of the most wonderful people I know. #1 bestsellers haven’t changed that one iota.
Anyway, a substantial part of the session involved the importance of beginnings, where to start and how to give them impact. We had two very good examples, both by very proficient authors, one of which began about ten pages too soon, the other about ten page too late, story-wise. We talked about info-dumps, and making a beginning that presented The Problem, The World, and The Characters in a concise, impactful way.
Good, solid session. Then, I was on a panel about editing, with another author I very much like and admire, Steven Brust. It went well, and I think we all learned intrustin’ stuff. Another good moment.
By this time, I’m getting just a bit punchy. I was filling in for Carolyn as well as doing my own panels. I’d had, for some reason, only an hour of sleep the night before (I wasn’t partying! I just couldn’t fall asleep!) and the Cherryh Crud was just beginning to make itself known in the form of a sore, scratchy throat.
Bravely, I head for my reading, having no idea what I’m going to read, but I’ve been talking about Closed Circle and the exciting things we have in store, so, hey, why not read the first original work we’re going to publish: ‘Netwalkers. It’s been, well, a loooong time since I read it. s/b fun.
So, I pull up the file; begin to read….and as I read, my heart sinks.
I don’t know if it was because I was exhausted. I don’t know if it was because I was thinking “beginnings” and “editing” for two days solid or if it was the knowledge that when I was done with this reading, I was going to be reading (for Carolyn) one of the most beautiful introductory passages I’ve ever run across (Faery Moon) … heck, maybe I was getting ‘bored’ vibes from the nice folk I had gathered around the table, but it was terrible. Oh, it read smoothly, was informative and interesting, had a balance of humor and intrigue…but as a beginning…at that moment, in that frame of mind, it just plain sucked. I actually had to stop reading it.
The folks at the reading very kindly reassured me, but I knew. I knew it was wrong. Fortunately, I also knew what was wrong and how I was going to fix it.
You can’t really ask for more than that.
I promised I’d post the changes, but it’s much too long to put into the blog, so I’ve posted it as a PDF in the ‘NetWalkers section of my website.
The original prologue was already there along with the first chapter. All that’s relevant at this time is the prologue. I’ll refine it more and cut out a bit more underbrush as I go through the next couple of scenes, which also need a similar weed-eating, but I thought some of you might find the comparison interesting.
Ja ne!
I’ve been working and working on this expletive deleted theme, trying to figure out why (a) avatars aren’t working. (b) How to adjust type size so you can read it. (c) how to get the comments to thread. 
