IS ANYONE GOOD AT SHUFFLING DECK CHAIRS?

Photo by Terry Jaskiw on Unsplash

I refrain from saying, shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic, as my poor memoir is not really the Titanic of literary works, but it certainly has met its fair share of icebergs.

But, before I get into asking about this shuffling business, first I must thank all those lovely and supportive subscribers who have encouraged me, in the face of yet another set back not to give it all up. Although giving it all up was certainly tempting.

As it is, I have abandoned the self-publishing company I had originally chosen, due to unanticipated problems.

So, here I sit with a finished memoir of roughly 44,000 words, that is in need of shaping. Hence, I am in need of a re-shuffle of plot points (the literary deck chairs) so it does not drag on and on and on through the back story before we get the main event, the crux of the story, which is how I came to be an emotional overeater, and how I overcame it.

Unfortunately, my back story covers a period of two years, so I'm finding it hard to condense it, or put bits of it elsewhere. So I sought a developmental edit.

I'm happy enough with the opening, and the ending, but it's that damn middle sag!

Such a lot of detail between being a child uninterested in food, to stuffing myself like a turkey before Christmas.

Without the details of the plot points between those two extremes, the whole story doesn't make sense. Why would I do the things I did? But how to reveal it? And how could the story be shaped, without the back story going on and on and on and on. (I can envision losing readers at this point.)

And in the end, why did my back story make me start to overeat? Why did I turn to food? That's the whole memoir's story right there.

If anyone has used a brilliant editor, and could recommend them, that would be so helpful.

In defence of the publishing company who I had originally wanted to do the edit, they did refund all of my money and didn't make a production out of it.

In hindsight, I may have just panicked and over-reacted when I didn't hear a word from them for days. I was ready to send over the manuscript, it was sitting waiting on the launchpad, so to speak, but then the final details just stopped. That scuttled my confidence in the company, and my withdrawing from them may or may not have been a good idea.

Truthfully, I just wanted a good, helpful, insightful edit, and then I would have gone ahead with letting them publish the book. I'm still not sure if I didn't just “get my knickers in a twist” as they say here in England.

I have also discovered, not as though I didn't already know this about myself, but it has been brought to light pretty forcefully, that I don't enjoy projects that go on indefinitely.

I want a beginning (all excited), a middle (it's a bit tough, but I'm making progress) and an end (thank goodness, it's all over. Well done, pat on the back!)

I'm not one who loves that middle, “it's tough” part. I wish there was a pill that would take you past that!

But, seeing as I'm not enough of a scientist to invent such a pill, it's back to shuffling deck chairs.

Can anyone else relate? How do you get “past that dreaded middle”? The endless back story?

Answers in the comments, please!

A thank you bouquet to all my lovely subscribers who have encouraged me!