A personal message – profound changes to The Guru

Posted On: Nov 1st, 2018 at 15:21

The Evolution took four-and-a-half years from start to print, and I was expecting The Guru to be completed well within that time. Now it has been four-and-a-half years since I started The Guru and the end is nowhere in sight. For sure, two years of writer’s block can be taken into consideration, and the reason for the block, which I now understand, is because the original idea for the book was wrong.
Recently I have completed the second draft and what has evolved from the first is a complete rewriting of the story in many places, to the point that the guru himself is no longer the central character. Instead, the relationship between the protagonist and Anjali, a woman he first met in The Evolution, has become the central focus. Ironically The Guru description, which I wrote several years ago, does explain that the story is about relationships, but it has evolved so much that it overshadows anything the guru is doing in the story.
Recently I have had the second draft proof read by a good friend of mine who works with film scripts in London, and his advice has been invaluable. We both agree that the relationship between the two central characters needs to be developed a bit more, and that the guru himself has gone from the central character to a side character.
The story itself is thrilling with twists and turns that will leave the reader wondering what’s happening until the very last page, so the actual framework to the story is going very well. The problem is it is mixed together with chapters I wrote more than four years ago and those original chapters need to removed or rewritten. The first quarter of the book will probably be removed entirely, and the guru himself may also be removed from the story, depending on how the third draft evolves.
After a very long telephone conversation with my friend about the content of the book in comparison with the original we have both agreed that the book title will be changed. We have also agreed on the new title. The book will be re-packaged and, unfortunately, I will most probably need to commission a new painting for the cover as the old one may have to go. I will be rewriting The Guru section in the website in the coming days also.
I can reveal that the book will now be simply entitled, ‘Sita’.
I still hope to go for publication next year, but for now I need to leave the book alone and allow the subconscious to work out how to resolve the issues from the second draft. Already there are many ideas coming forth on how to develop the next draft.
Despite the length of time this book has taken I believe it will be a better book than The Evolution. The concept is completely different.
With The Evolution we are basically reading a diary, so that every thought of the main character is written down in detail. Sita is not written in the same format and almost comes from the third person, so that the adventure takes precedent over any internal thought mechanisms of the protagonist. Again we will read the same mix of fact and fiction, and the second draft of Sita has evolved around the ancient Hindu epic, The Ramayana, hence the new title.