Skip to main content

Editing

Minor Annoucement: The book formerly known as Dragonborn will henceforth be referred to by its newest title, Return of the Fallen.

There. Now that that's out of the way I can get onto the writing news. I am editing RotF. My beta reader, Brenda, has given me her electronic and manuscript notations. I have already worked my way through 100 pages, which leaves approximately 450 more to go.

I must admit I'm feeling pretty pleased with my little self right now. I have a plan and plans are good! I intend to fix all the little grammar issues first, clarifying where necessary without adding or deleting too much. I expect this will take the rest of the week--she really didn't find too many errors (thanks to all the wonderful critiques I had from my crit partners at FM & the Mighty Quill).

Once the simple fixes are taken care of I will then address the two major aspects of this revision. The beginning needs to be strengthened. The action needs to be tighter, more fast-paced, and provide more of a hook. Once I accomplish this, I will focus my attention on the ending. Although what I have works, I'd like to see something a bit more positive. Instead of leaving my characters amid the destruction, I think I'm going to follow them to the horizon of their new beginnings.

Hopefully the entire revision process won't take me more than three weeks. A week for grammar/clarifications and a quick re-read of the entire manuscript, a week for the new beginning, and a week for a revised ending. Once I'm satisfied it's as good as it's going to get, I'm going to do some serious name and address collecting.

See. I do have a plan!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

They saved the finger..

This was supposed to be an easy, carefree weekend.  One of those rare weekends where spontaneity is possible because plans were not made ahead of time.  We could lounge on the couch, work on our hobbies, or even do a little shopping.  And, no, I'm not referring to the necessary evil of grocery shopping, but the much more enjoyable version where you get to buy things that actually make you happy. Because the oldest boy needed some pants and the youngest could use a new pair of shoes, I decided to head into the city to do some shopping at Kohl's.  Of course, my decision to shop there was not quite so altruistic.  Mama needed a new bathing suit! So, I pack the kids up and head into the city.  The youngest picks out his shoes . The oldest tries on a few pairs of jeans and ends up with two in the basket.  Did I mention we have to shop in the men's department now?  That he's wearing size 29?  My baby is growing up! Then it was Mom's turn.  I was looking ove

Camping with Little Boys

  Our first travel trailer. I don't remember camping much with my family as a kid. This is likely because we always had the same vacation destination: a family plot in Baldwin, MI. There was no cabin there. Instead, there were two structures: a small, silver camper and an old single-wide trailer. The silver camper is gone but the single-wide still sits there and is used by extended family members to this day.  It wasn't until I was a teenager that my step-mom and dad bought a pop-up trailer and we started camping elsewhere in the state. My memory isn't the greatest, but I'm almost certain they got the pop-up after I started dating Ken. Eventually, my parents upgraded to a fifth wheel that my dad still pulls around to various nearby camping spots. Ken, by contrast, didn't have a set vacation destination growing up. His family camped. They started out with a truck-bed camper, I believe, and eventually upgraded to a fifth wheel.  Ken and I vacationed both in Baldwin an

Shopping & Packing

This may come as a surprise, but I don't consider myself much of a shopper. Don't get me wrong, I could be! I could easily spend my weekends hopping from store to store, searching for that perfect pair of jeans or a cute little shirt to go with those shorts I have at home. I could also spend hours browsing the local B&N in search of the next best read. Oh, yes, I could easily become a hardcore shopper if the funds were available. But I don't frequent the mall because there's always something more pressing to spend my paychecks on and I'm not very good at window shopping. If I'm browsing, I'm buying. So I don't go. At least, not often. However, as we all know, there are times when shopping is necessary. Family vacations happen to be one of them. My feeling on the matter is that everyone needs to look good in the hundreds of photos I will undoubtedly take. Last year's wardrobe just won't do, not even if it still fits! Besides, I doubt