Before I get into the edit, have you entered yet for an ARC of A NIGHT DIVIDED? The contest ends on Friday. Read more here!
So it’s taken me a week, but here’s what I’ve done on THE SCOURGE.
* Added in all of the descriptions of people and places.
*Tons of world building: setting, time period, history of the Scourge, and why a particular group of people are so hated. There’s still more to do on this.
* Went through the manuscript looking for plot holes or mistakes. Found only about half of what I’ll eventually notice before I’m finished. Which is only half of what my editor will find. (Seriously, every writer needs an editor. EVERY WRITER.)
* Moved some characters around in the scenes and totally changed one character so they aren’t a complete jerk for the entire plot. Only for most of it.
* Realized one of my characters chuckles almost compulsively. Started fixing that, though I suspect now he’s shifted to laughing too much. There’s a lot of humor in this book, but this character was going way overboard.
* Did a full read through just fixing anything along the way that I didn’t like. Average number of changes per page: tons. Number of changes still waiting for me to find: tons and tons more.
The word count one week ago: 66,724
Word count tonight: 72,362
With most of the big picture issues handled, now it’s time for fine-tuning the manuscript. This means I’ll start watching for details on characterization, word choices, and world-building. This is the stage where I want to make this story feel real. I’ll do this with at through least two complete read throughs, one focused on character and the other focused on story (though I’ll be watching for everything in the read throughs). I have a busy week ahead, so this might take me all week. I’ll report back soon!
16 Comments
Wow, editing must be very tiring. I’m glad the Scourge has humor (any book should have humor). The word count now is impressive: it means you wrote 5,638 words more (I think).
I cannot wait for the Scourge to come out next year!
– Loreley
Editing is tiring, but it’s a stage I really enjoy. Thanks, Loreley!
That was a really tough work Miss Jen. I really like the picture above haha… I imagined you doing that expression. Is the colorful notes in your post “Birth of Rome and Other news” for this Scourge project?
yes, although the story changed radically from that stage of writing.
Being a writer is hard for what I have imagined. There are too many editing process… But still I am happy for you Miss Jen for this new project of yours.
Thank you! It can be hard, but when you’re doing what you’re love, it’s not work!
Yeah you are totally right about that Miss Jen.
Wow that word count dramatically changed! You put so much work into your amazing books, I don’t know how you have the patience for all that editing! Thank you for putting so much work into writing great books for us!
To me, it’s not about patience. It’s the joy of seeing a story start to come together just as I had imagined it.
I don’t think any book will have more smiles, chuckles, smirks, grins, and laughs than the Ascendance Trilogy. That had at least twenty per chapter through the whole book.
That is true, it did, Jaron is a punk, but at least he’s on our side! 😉
Are you working on a new book called the scourge?
Yup!
Oh COOL! 🙂
Okay, i seriously have to read this book. When is it coming out?
Fall 2016. That’s all I know for now.