I finished what I like to call Revision 2.0 on Alchemist, my fantasy novel in preparation for an impromptu invite-only writer’s workshop this weekend. I stayed up most of the nights of last week to put the finishing touches on the book. By the end, I was astonished to discover that it weighed in at 661 manuscript pages (about 130,000 words). I still felt as though I left certain things incomplete.

I received quite a few complements in the area of plot. While nothing in the novel should particularly surprise anyone (there’s only two major twists, but I provide enough clues that the reader doesn’t feel like it’s a deus ex machina), the intricacies of how it all fits together drew some admiration. (Thanks, guys! You know who you are.)

Where I fell short, and where Kate has long told me that I fell short, is in the realm of writing believeable female characters. I don’t understand my mental failing. I either make them too man-like (and rob them of their feminity when giving them strength), I make them a Disney princess, or I so completely screw them over that my readers will wonder if I have a closet disdain for the female gender. I need to find a happy medium, especially given that one of the four main characters in the book is a female, and her role in the story is absolutely pivotal.

Contrast this with the fact that two of my characters, according to comments that I’ve received thus far, are absolute stand-outs. I actually jerked surprised gasps unwillingly from folks at one point (one of my villains is a real bastard). I need to capture the essence of what makes them pull someone’s emotional puppet strings and apply that realistically to the women in my story.

The other area that I have difficulty with is the (taboo to criticize among some writers) element of point of view. I have written Alchemist as third person limited omniscient (that’s a mouthful) with an ensemble cast of seven viewpoint characters. (If I have ever have more than seven viewpoint characters in a novel, Foxbat and Dez have my advance permission to drive up to DFW and kick me in the nuts for pulling a Robert Jordan.) However, I’ll have lines here and there where I jump into the head of someone else and then step back out. To me, it flows, because I wrote it and I’m trying to reveal information. To people who don’t know the story and don’t understand where I’m going, it’s a jarring switch that throws them out of the narrative.

Alchemist has gone from rough draft (beta), to Release Candidate 1.0, and now to Alchemist 2.0. Before I seriously attempt publication again, we might have to upgrade to Alchemist 2.1.