Today I Cut the Core Concept From My Novel

What to do when huge parts of your book need fixing

Today I did something that would have terrified me a year ago. I cut the Veil from my book Veil Breaker. The core concept binding my book and future series together, was actually making the plot weaker.

*laughs in a slightly insane way*

You might be thinking, oh fuck Madi what are you gonna do?

But if you’re already an author, you’re probably chuckling and nodding along.

Bestselling author Brandon Sanderson says,

“One of the things pros do that amateurs have trouble with in writing, is that pros throw away chapters a lot.”

Sanderson threw away entire books, and talks about it in this podcast with Tim Ferriss (starts at the correct part):

Sanderson says that you are the art, so don’t worry if you create something that you later discard, because the creation of it sharpens YOU and your craft, and that’s what matters.

So why did I cut the concept that was so important I named the book after it? At first, it seemed like the veil between worlds allowed me to pull the plot together. But there was always a voice inside me saying, ‘this is a bit boring.’ I thought that the idea would gain significance as I wrote it, but it didn’t come to life. And yesterday I realized that the villain doesn’t need a veil between worlds- he doesn’t care to open or close this veil, or destroy an object that does.

*surprised face* Well there goes the conflict.

But that’s okay. I am the art. Creating the veil trained me to see what doesn’t work. And I’ve already come up with a replacement that is much stronger for the story.

On to the next issue, the next huge thing that will have to get deleted or replaced. It’s not a big deal, it’s just what happens when I’m serious about my craft.

Until tomorrow,

Madi

PS: I want to make author friends. If you are an author, could you say hi? And if you know an author who might like this, could you send it their way?