The Book Two Posts Ep. 7 AND About Writing Ep. 3

Because, sometimes, it's hard to talk about progress without talking about process. 

I spent a good bit of time today rewriting the climax. There are things I forgot to add to it, and there are things I have to go back into the earlier parts of the book to add. I recently removed a chapter that was several pages long, and, even so, it's  over 96K words now. I'm not too worried about the length. I know that I will be polishing in the third draft, and, as long as it makes the best use of the words, I'm happy with it. That's what the third draft will be all about.

The Book Two Posts Ep. 6: Friday Eve and Climaxes

A lot of the time, I come up with thoughts for blog posts while I'm in the midst of doing other things. Then, they slip my mind because I'm doing other things. Life has been pretty hectic for the last, I don't know, five years? I sometimes feel like I don't even have time to day dream, which is just plain wrong.

Anyway, back to writing updates. :)

The Book Two Posts Ep. 5: Chapter Breaks

In case anyone wondered, the book is definitely a book. The word count is inching its way toward 100K, but I have plans to remove a chapter that may become a standalone short story or novelette, possibly a give-away. That's actually a good thing because, inserted into the book, it seems out of place. I've spent a good while working on the timeline and calendar, rearranging some chapters, and trying to decide if I should put my chapter breaks in different places or merge chapters.

The Book Two Posts: The Rewrite Ep. 4 and Life

I'm in the process of working on the rewrite of Book Two, and I'm at least 29 Chapters into it, which is over halfway. The good news is that I've figured out how to address an issue that I've been wrestling with.

I won't really call it a block. It's one of those things that I've been asking myself how far down this rabbit trail do I go, and is this something I should do? I was trying to figure out the best way to look at the plot. Situations like this one are where I'm faced with those thoughts I had put on the back burner to deal with later. Then it's time to, as my mother would say, fish or cut bait. You have to decide which one you want to do. Nobody can help me with those decisions. They don't know enough about where I'm coming from or where I'm going to help.

About Writing Ep. 2: My Main Character: The Flaws and Is She Me?

Nearly two decades ago, there wasn't a book like the one I wrote. Pickings were slim on the modern fantasy/paranormal romance book shelf, and I wanted to write the type of story that I would want to read. My premise at that time was that, as an adult, a girl returned to the place where she was born, a place full of magic. That was really all I knew that I wanted it to be at the moment, and it took a really long time to go from that simple idea to actually crafting a story that executed that idea in a way I liked.

Fast-forward to a few days ago when I was talking to another writer about how amazing it is to go from something that doesn't exist and turning this thought into something tangible that you can hold in your hands.

The Book Two Posts: The Rewrite Ep. 3 & The Value of Staring into Space

During the past few weeks, I've spent more time trying to distance myself from the books. My sister is my first beta reader, and she understands that this is a draft and that nothing is set in stone at this point. She said she was enjoying it so far, and I think I had sent her about fourteen chapters at that point. Then she asked for the whole thing, and, although I cringed at the thought--I had not rewritten ANY of the last chapters, and there were so many broken threads--I sent them. Since then, I have been decompressing and binge-watching videos. :)

The Book Two Posts: The Rewrite Ep. 2

First of all.... I got some feedback on the first 30 pages, and it was good. 😁 She wants to know what happens next, which I think is the desired reaction. That's when I told her I can't send her the next pages right now because I'm editing them and adding a new scene.😅