Time for big decisions...

I'm at a point in my rewrites where I have to make really big decisions... What do I leave untouched, and what do I change? I've been advised to remove all Tolkien reminders from the story, which I did. No more elves, orcs or goblins--I created new races and settings to fill their parts, and changed too cliché city and character names to more original ones. I'm obviously leaving dragons, because DUH it's a story about dragons, and also griffins, because if they are fantasy-based creatures, I don't consider them specifically Tolkienish.

Another question was whether or not to leave Kings and Princes... Michael Neff wanted me to take it out; the editors I've pitched to didn't seem to have a problem with it at all--including the one who wants to see my MS (he didn't even bat an eye at the mention of Kings and Princes). I've thought about it a LOT. I even had alternatives to all royal characters and titles all laid out... but I decided against the change. If they are not absolutely vital for the story to work, they do bring an innocence and fairy-talish atmosphere to the party that I really wish to keep in the storyline.

The last big question was whether or not to remove the part of the book happening in a school setting. Detractors were saying that it reminded them too much of Harry Potter. Once again, I laid out alternatives. That part of the book could have happened in a magical military academy instead of a school, but frankly the differences wouldn't justify the change. You don't have a whole lot of potential settings if you want several youngsters to interact together, alongside adults and spies, with a war in the background.

Ive also realized that the school setting is only used in a small part of the book, about 100 pages into the story. By the time someone gets to that point of my MS and the hero arrives at the school, it should be painfully obvious to them that this is no Harry Potter story. It's the story of a Dragon-wizard, who in the course of his quest to save his kind, just so happens to spy undercover in a human school of magic for a while, before leaving the school altogether to go save the girl, and ultimately win the war. I don't see the shadow of Harry anywhere in there--do you?

PS: thank you Terri, for helping me to sort things out in my head ((hugs))