Currently, I am still working on "Her Black Prince." Due to all the running around during Christmas and New Year's Eve and Day, I didn't make as much progress on it as I wanted. Nonetheless, I did get to the point where I was able to introduce a new character into the story and that made me very happy.
That being said, I'm definitely going to have to write another draft or two before it is publishable. I did a total "data dump" in which I threw in far too much backstory than was necessary and will need to trim it down in the next draft. There's nothing wrong with including background information that will help a reader understand the story. In fact, for Sci-fi/Fantasy works, it is an absolute necessity. That being said, there comes a point where you are giving your story a serious case of TMI (Too Much Information). For example, if your story features two women named Arezu and Batul who are having a serious feud, it would help to know that it began because Batul made a move on Arezu's man. That being said, do we really need to know that the cobblestones of the city street had been painted blue with black tiger stripes six hours before Batul tried to drag Arezu's husband off to "a nighttime chat" by the crystal water fountain? I don't think so. As Professor Cook, my best English instructor in college, once said, "Be sure that you include everything that the reader HAS to know." By logical extension, that means leave out all the fluff.
That's it for now. Until next time, stay posted.
