My tiny dilemma(s).

Well, except for trying to remember how to spell the word dilemma.

Last time, I announced my decision that I was out on the hunt for a crit partner. One of the big reasons for this is that I am well on my way now, but I've been feeling this tiny nag of uncertainty in the back of my mind. It has to do with my plot.

See I have five main characters along with a cast of supporters. Fine. The thing comes in where the story is told from two perspectives. The book is largely about two stories.

To me, this isn't large, since I keep track of the goings on, but then, I did create the stories. I let my gran read the first portion and she said that the story is good, but that she's worried about the readers being confused.

Problem here is two-fold. One, she absolutely doesn't want to hurt my feelings and two, she was taught never to write with more that two or three main characters. She never read or wrote a fantasy novel. 

I can't give it to my three best friends. One will soften the crit, and the other understands the convoluted workings of my mind too well. So Theresa will say I make perfect sense, because she knows how I think (Although the deal with helping me edit stands :-)). As scary as the thought is, I think that creatively, she thinks like me. Waldo is well read on fantasy, blunt to a fault and being a guy, never quite grasps my thinking, but... he's doing a Masters in Engineering. I just can't be cruel enough to make him read through what is sure to be a reasonably sized beast of an epic - in rough draft form - again and again.

So I need someone to read my work, that doesn't know me, but understands Fantasy as a genre.

Which brings me to the troubling part(s). Firstly, there is the matter of trusting a complete stranger with my brainchild. I don't know if I'm being overly dramatic, but it feels like I'm toeing the abyss with my eyes closed. It's just that, I think that this is such a good concept for a book. Really, it's very very good. If I can pull it off... So I have to check, but what if this person I choose to trust decides he or she likes my idea more than their own?

Then there's the logistics of the deal. I'm currently writing the Fantasy with pen and paper. So, to get it to a CP involves me rewriting the parts I've written, while I'm writing the rest of the book. I don't want to stop dead, since I'm on a roll. Also, if I get input early on, it might mean a smaller scale rewrite later... 

Anyone have any advice about this?