Writing a novel is a daunting thing. It doesn’t happen in a day, so it’s easy to forget things that you introduced early on. One of the things you have to do during revision is find all the loose threads and take care of them. You may miss things. You can be so focused on making sure each word choice is the best and the pacing is appropriate that you might ignore something that feels inconsequential to the character, but thematically (and to the reader) is very important.
In my case, driving to work today, I was trying my hand (YET AGAIN) at writing a query that will grab people’s attention. What I came up with exposed an unresolved plot issue so large that I can’t even call it a loose thread. It’s the entire damn fleece. It’s a loose sheep.
Jehovah’s mother sold her children to get passage to the platform city up above. Jehovah goes up above and not once do I address his mother (at least I don’t remember doing so). What the hell am I thinking? If I were a reader and went through a book that didn’t address this issue, I would have many course words for the talent of the author.
Oi!
From the Rejectionist, here’s what finding a loose sheep feels like:
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