Some Trezka Notes

As I’m headed off to New York Comic Con this weekend and don’t really feel the greatest anyhow, I thought it might be fun to take a look at some notes regarding Trezka I got this week instead of slogging my way through an update. Nothing heavy, and I lumped out almost all the positives here for brevity (though they most certainly were appreciated), but just for kicks.

Yes, this is a tease. But at least I didn’t just berate you with praise and positives, right? There’s plenty of time for that still. I mean, Trezka is probably at least a year out from publication, so who knows what’ll happen between now and then.

Oh, did I mention I redacted the notes? I redacted them. Because what fun is a behind-the-scenes look without NSA-style interruptions lumped across it, you know? At least I didn't redact my carefully worded responses.

• I was hesitant at first about the REDACTED. However, I think you did a great job utilizing it a number of ways. Obviously it makes the book read more like REDACTED, with REDACTED as the central figure of REDACTED. I also liked how you used it to show REDACTED. However, the transitions can be very confusing. I would consider adding some kind of visible page break in future versions. Not necessarily labeling each section with REDACTED or anything like that, more like a symbol or a couple of dots or something to delineate a REDACTED.
  
  As a draft review copy, this wasn’t exactly formatted as it would be in the published version. There will definitely be clearly defined breaks and more immediate visual cues as to how each section should be interpreted. That in mind, I’ve also gotten similar notes from others, and will be making each section more readily identifiable by other means as well.
  
• The REDACTED was more REDACTED than I thought it would have been. Not REDACTED, but clearly REDACTED from the REDACTED. I did find the change from REDACTED to REDACTED a little jarring, perhaps consider some way to smooth that out, although I couldn't tell you what that should be or how it would work.
  
  Same as the above, although with this, the break will be even more heavily defined. I have some ideas, but I’m still working on the final delivery. In the end, though, there should be no questioning the transition.
  
• I wasn't sure what to make of REDACTED. She is certainly an interesting juxtaposition to REDACTED, giving us a window into how a REDACTED might feel about REDACTED. I get why she's in the story. However, I didn't find her particularly likable as a character. I didn't seem to care as much what happened to her as I did about REDACTED. It seemed like she was only there to REDACTED. I imagine that may have been the whole point of her, and am not suggesting that every character even needs to be likable, just noting my reaction to her. You might think about some ways to flesh her out a bit more, give her a little more life of her own. I thought her relationship with REDACTED was an interesting device, as it allowed you to establish that there are REDACTED in our time and in the future, and why should REDACTED have to be REDACTED to be happy with each other.
  
  I completely agree with this, and realize this character needs some additional work, though, yes, her general stagnation/one-point nature was included for a very important reason. That said, I’ve been working on some additional material to more broaden her personality and deepen her character arc, and will be sure the explanation for how she acts the way she does is a bit more… pronounced.
   
• The time frame was a little confusing to me. The whole thing played out in a matter of a REDACTED, but it felt more like it was a story taking place over REDACTED or REDACTED. I get that the ubiquitous spread of technology would make information and therefore ideas move through the population at an exponentially increased rate, and I'm not disputing that, but something about the pacing just felt a little muddled to me.
  
  The timeframe is indeed extremely important to this story, so correcting the “muddled” bits of the narrative has been one of my main endeavors the last few drafts. It seems a bit more work is needed, but that point about technology? Well, that’s not all that’s at work here. That’s a very important point, and I’ll need to make sure it’s not lost within the text.

So, yeah, like I’ve said before somewhere in these updates, Trezka still needs a bit of work before release. Thankfully, there was a much larger sense of enjoyment in the notes than this bit of constructive feedback would otherwise let you believe, so at least I think I’m on the right track here. More to come on this.

And if you’re headed to New York Comic Con this weekend, let me know. Let’s grab a beer or just yak it up and watch the cosplayers run by. Or, if you bought a copy of the book and I haven’t signed it yet? There you go.