I hit my chapter near the end of the mid section of the book. This is my big chapter where I handle the inner conflict of my boy hero now turned 13 and how his two uncles who represent the two different cultures he comes from (One third generation white Australian settler family and his Australian Aborigine family) are both pulling him in different ways and demanding he follow a different pathway than the one he has planned for himself. Jarrah wants to be able to please and live within both cultures when he chooses. He also wants to choose to live 'between' the cultures, in a life style and place of his own choosing, with friends of his own choosing, and not having to conform to the one or the other cultural demands.
This chapter is already written...so this is 'just an edit', but I can see I have done what I stove not to do and 'harped.' In my desire to show racism from the viewpoint of the mixed culture individual who is affected by the conflicting laws and demands of different societies I have shown three examples and his reactions in three chains of thought.
All examples 'work'. However I now see that I have 'over hammered my point.'
As a novelist I am here to entertain my reader and not lecture on society's morals. I have to hatchet job this chapter...cut the words to one only example and soliloquies then move on into action quickly.
Once again the words, 'do not insult your reader by assuming they were not intelligent enough to understand in fewer words.'
WOW! Once more I see I have a huge rewrite ahead of me...extra months of work in finishing the final chapters to my satisfaction. Yes I had 'something' I wanted to state about race relations within this novel but it has to come though subtly and by allowing my readers to make up their own minds. No racist would read past the first blurb of my novel anyhow. I have already been told, 'if there are indigenous in it I will not read it.' So 'I am writing a novel here, not preaching how I feel about life,' I remind myself.
I move onward today...knowing what I had hoped would be a few more days of work will be a month and possibly a few months work...but I have learnt a lot more about 'being a novelist.'
This chapter is already written...so this is 'just an edit', but I can see I have done what I stove not to do and 'harped.' In my desire to show racism from the viewpoint of the mixed culture individual who is affected by the conflicting laws and demands of different societies I have shown three examples and his reactions in three chains of thought.
All examples 'work'. However I now see that I have 'over hammered my point.'
As a novelist I am here to entertain my reader and not lecture on society's morals. I have to hatchet job this chapter...cut the words to one only example and soliloquies then move on into action quickly.
Once again the words, 'do not insult your reader by assuming they were not intelligent enough to understand in fewer words.'
WOW! Once more I see I have a huge rewrite ahead of me...extra months of work in finishing the final chapters to my satisfaction. Yes I had 'something' I wanted to state about race relations within this novel but it has to come though subtly and by allowing my readers to make up their own minds. No racist would read past the first blurb of my novel anyhow. I have already been told, 'if there are indigenous in it I will not read it.' So 'I am writing a novel here, not preaching how I feel about life,' I remind myself.
I move onward today...knowing what I had hoped would be a few more days of work will be a month and possibly a few months work...but I have learnt a lot more about 'being a novelist.'
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