Today happens to be my 32nd birthday! Check out my birthday post for info on the giveaway I’m doing this week to celebrate, and my interview today on author Aine P. Massie’s blog House Millar.
Once again, it’s been ten days since I checked in. That’s partially because I have little to update — I’ve only written about 2,000 words in that time. I feel like the draft is long for where I am in the story, but we’ll see how it turns out. Maybe it’ll be a longer novella, but I know it won’t hit 40,000 words, which is what I consider the minimum length to call a book a novel.
I also spent some time last week on the outline to the fourth story in the series, and did a tiny bit on the final two books’ outlines. I think it’ll be easier to think through that far ahead before I finish this current book. And it was fun! Part of the challenge I’m loving with this series is balancing the plot for the individual book with the setup and execution of the overarching conflict.
I have also been noticing my thoughts turning back to Queen Witch, the urban fantasy novel I wrote in late 2011, as I go about my daily business. Challenges that seemed insurmountable in December are beginning to work themselves out in my brain while I focus on other things. That’s great, because it’s almost time to have a copy of my first draft printed and go at it with my purple ink, which is how I always do my first edit and begin to hammer out revisions.
That brings up a fun question for my writer friends: Do you have a specific pen you use for editing, or any other quirky editing habits or rituals?
Happy Birthday, J.R.! I hope you have a good one.
I’m glad your challenges are working themselves out. Sometimes you just have to step back and let things happen.
I’m in the same boat as far as novella/novel is concerned. My latest WIP was supposed to be a novel, but it may not reach 40,000, although it’s almost there. And I’ve heard some people say 40K and others say 50K is a novel. No one ever agrees on this stuff! LOL
I use a red pen because it stands out better. LOL. I have found that if I try to edit looking at the computer screen, I miss things. When I proofed again for the print version of Haunted Lake, I found errors and I couldn’t believe I put out an ebook with that many (although a lot fewer than most books I’ve read, LOL). So I always print it out now. Saving ink isn’t worth putting out errors. Of course, now I have more proofers to catch those things. 😉
Good look with your writing and your editing!
Happy Birthday!! I hope you celebrate all day 🙂
I have a habit of editing while I write my first draft. So my first draft ultimately turns into my final draft…which means the whole process of coming up with a draft is longer, but I don’t end up editing as long…so I guess it evens out!
Another quirk is that I write chapters/scenes out of order. I do the important ones first, then fill the other chapters in at the end. This way, I know what all the major plot lines are before I do the “filler” chapters.
Happy Birthday! I really like purple, now you’ve got me wanting to buy myself a purple pen or two when I finish my first novel so I can edit with it. 🙂
Have a great week.
I tend to write/sketch up an outline after I’ve done my first draft! I know its kind of backwards, but there’s a good deal of editing that follows. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
For editing I prefer to use a blue ink pen although over the past weeks I’ve been using a green one. Basically it has to be anything but black or red.
I edit at work and use a red pen there, so for my fun stuff I use my favorite color, purple (if that isn’t obvious by my blog, lol). It shows up almost as well, and even better, it makes me happy. 🙂
I only do the one edit & first revisions on paper, and then I go back to the computer. When I do a final proof of my manuscript, I do it on the computer.
It has been a nice birthday, thanks for the birthday wishes!
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thank you so much for your sweet words!
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