Category: revisions

Editing and Planning

I’ve been getting a good amount of work done lately. Editing on the Atlantis story is going well. The writing is still much stronger than I remembered, which pleases me. I haven’t made any major changes yet, but I know the latter part of the story will probably need some additional work. Nerina is a much more well-defined character than I remember her being, but being in her head comes back easily to me, and so does being in that world. I think that’s a good sign.

I’ve got two chapters to write in the zombie story. One of them is pretty straightforward. The other will probably end up being dark and tense, with the characters expecting the boogeyman to jump out at any second. (Hey, it’s a story about zombies. What did you expect?) Also on the zombie front, I ordered Mark Henry’s Happy Hour of the Damned. It sounds pretty funny, and I’m looking forward to reading it.

Last, but far from least, I’m still doing pre-work on the YA werewolf story. I was at the mall a few days ago, and saw a pair of shoes that the female MC would definitely wear. They were black Mary Janes with little skulls and crossbones on them.

Me: “Oh, those shoes are perfect for Chance. She would love them!”
My younger brother (looking confused): “Who is Chance?”

And then I went home and happily spent an hour Googling Goth clothes and picking out outfits for Chance to wear. It’s sad, really. And I’m afraid she likes pink. That, to me, doesn’t go so well with the whole Goth idea, but she’s determined she will also have a pair of hot pink Doc Marten boots. Go figure. I don’t even like pink! She’s coming through loud and clear. Now if only her brother, Cade, would start speaking up for himself…

In Brief

So, I finished my first edits for the 2YN story (still looking for a title…). I also finished this slash-and-burn edit of Witches. I cut right at 50k words, so I still have a lot to go. I’m also doing a rough outline of the sequel to Witches. And I’m a third of the way through my phase outline for the NaNo 2008 story, which is now tentatively titled A Tempest of Angels.

Started the new day job this week, too. The new place is so much more laid-back than the old one, it’s hard to believe it’s even the same field. It’s much the same, of course (in what we do), but very different as well. There’s been a lot of reading this week (Sadly, not the pleasurable kind.). I even have a test tomorrow. Bet you didn’t know vampires had tests, did you?

Searching for Titles

Good news: I finished the edits on the 2YN story today. Yay! It’s coming in at about 73k right now. I just have to revamp the last two chapters, and I’ll be finished with this draft. That should push it up to around 75k, hopefully. Now I just have to come up with a title. Something about dragons, maybe. I hate trying to come up with titles.

In Witches, I only have 20 chapters left to edit, so I’ll be through on Monday. That’s really cause for celebration. I have to say, though, this isn’t an in-depth, fix-every-little-thing-edit. No. The main purpose of this pass is to shore up some weak areas, and to ruthlessly cut as many words as possible from this 300k behemoth. So far, I’ve cut 42k words. I expect to cut another 15k or so before I’m through with this round, putting me around 57k cut. Which means I cut around 19% of the MS. Not bad. But…I need to cut around 50%, and that leaves me a LONG ways to go. Sigh. I know I’m going to have to cut two chapters that I dearly love in the next round of edits. I just know it. I love both of them, but they’re not really necessary to the story. Sniff. I’ll mourn them when the time comes, then I’ll get over it.

I’ve been brainstorming the new NaNo story. I’m still really excited about it. I know what the first two chapters are about. Sort of. I did have what I think is a really great idea on the name of the used bookstore my female MC owns: Secondhand Lines. What do you think? I’m still struggling to title this story as well (okay, and pretty much all my stories except Through Shadowed Stone). There’s been some great ideas on the NaNo boards, but none that have spoken to me yet. I’m thinking about looking up some Bible verses having to do with angels and seeing if I can twist one of them a bit to come up with something suitable.

Almost Out the Door

So, progress. Actually, lots of progress. I finished this last revision/edit on Through Shadowed Stone. Now all I have to do is get it into manuscript format. (Which, I’m sure, will take entirely too long. My next story I’m writing in manuscript format.) I want to thank my two crit partners, Stuart and Deanne, for looking at this story and giving me some very valuable feedback. Nothing may come of the story, but now I think I’ve got it in the best possible shape. It’s come through some changes, especially considering the concept came from a dream I had six or seven years ago. Then the story became my first foray into NaNoWriMo in 2006. And I plan to start submitting it to agents next week. It will almost be a relief to actually get to that point, although I’m scared to death.

New Goal for April

I’ve decided to revamp my goals for April a little bit. My original plan was to have Through Shadowed Stone ready to go out the door this month. I’m still planning on that. But to do that, I have to put Witches on the backburner this month, and focus solely on TSS. And I’m okay with that. TSS doesn’t need a lot of work. Just a few minor tightening details and clarifications. After a really in-depth crit from a critique partner, I realized that my MC has a few inconsistencies that I need to clear up, and I need to do a little bit more explaining in a few spots. I also need to add a few setting details to bring the culture a little more fully into life. So I’ll be focused on that this month. And also on polishing my synopsis for this story and getting it ready to go. Of course, I’ll also have to flesh out my plan of attack (i.e. getting a list of agents ready to submit to). Other than that…I’ll be working six days a week for the foreseeable future, so that’s pretty much it.

Writing Progress

So, it’s halfway through the week. Time for an update, I guess. I hit my word count goal for the 2YN story (Really going to have to come up with a name for that sometime soon.) The first person POV is getting so much easier for me to write! Samantha is really coming alive, which is great, since I think she’s a wonderful character.

I’m keeping up with my editing goals for Shadows of Stone. The plan is to be through on Sunday, and it looks like I’ll be able to hit that. Then I’ll key in the edits next week, and hopefully find some beta readers. (I’ve got one lined up, at least!)

No progress on Witches. That’s slated to begin the week after next. I promise. Just in time to get distracted with NaNo. Oh, and I’ve finally started researching names for the NaNo book (aka the Atlantis story).

And as if I don’t have enough to do, my best friend came up with a fabulous story idea for us to work on together. She even sent me the first nine pages, which completely intrigued me. It’s The Stand, and some zombies, and…some other stuff I can’t talk about yet, until we get it all straightened out. But it’s cool, and I’m excited about working on it with her. It should be a lot of fun.

I know this looks like a ton of stuff on my things-to-do list (and it is), but I think I’d go crazy if I didn’t have a lot going on. I’d just get bored and slop around all day watching TV. Sigh. So boring.

Also posted in my personal blog, A Figment of My Imagination.