{"id":24002,"date":"2021-10-19T18:16:54","date_gmt":"2021-10-19T22:16:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iantm.com\/books\/?p=24002"},"modified":"2021-11-25T20:46:18","modified_gmt":"2021-11-26T01:46:18","slug":"a-work-in-of-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iantm.com\/books\/2021\/10\/a-work-in-of-progress\/","title":{"rendered":"A work in\/of progress\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It’s been three years, and I’m down to a couple dozen copies of Tamaishi. It’s been two years since I did any in person events, but I sold a fair number of books recent weeks. I started considering a reprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Live and Learn<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Looking back at the book, it’s clear there is room for improvement. I still love Tamaishi<\/em> and its core story and characters, but I learned a lot from Where All the Little Things Live, <\/em>from the illustrations, to the typesetting and words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So rather than just hit go, I’m revising everything for the second edition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Revise, not redo<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is not a complete overhaul. I’m looking at it with fresh, critical and constructive eyes. I’ve already revised some passages to be more “show” and less “tell”. It’s remarkable how much I missed back then, and how much I could improve the words, but it’s been worth every agonizing moment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1st Edition<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tama took his hat back to the place he called home, a miniature forest of tall mushrooms. They seemed excited at the new addition, but Tama just sort of lopped it on top the pile of his collection and propped himself next to it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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2nd Edition<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he arrived home, the mushrooms and grass followed the silent shiny thing strolling across the ground until Tama popped out from underneath. Some leaned down, pointing to Tama\u2019s collection of tiny trinkets, hoping the new addition would end up next to them.\u00a0But Tama let it flop down in front of him and turned around without another word.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Instead of telling that the grass and mushrooms “were excited” I describe what they are doing instead, which puts more of it in the minds eye. It can end up making things longer, but it’s a fun challenge to revise like this, because everything ends up so much more vivid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve also been updating some of the line work and spot channel colors and it adds more depth and subtlety to the illustrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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