So to be honest...the month of November was the best of a bad bunch when it comes to writing this Autumn. I knew this would happen. Over the summer I was on break from uni and so had writing time in abundance! I finished my first draft and made a good dent in my edits.
Yeeeeeah...not so much anymore
I started back at uni in October, and the workload this semester is fairly heavy - at least compared to exactly zero work in the summer - and it's taken me a while to get back into the swing of things.
honestly though...goals
So what exactly did I get done in November....
Because I didn't post any updates in September or October either, I thought I would just give a brief summary of what I've done so far on this first round of edits and where I'm up to.
Sound alright?
Alright.
According to Scrivener...I have now edited 29 out of 43 chapters (44 if you count the Epilogue)...so I'm over half way and feeling very good about that. I feel like the plot is really picking up the pace now and it's all just steaming ahead to the finish line!
I wrote my first draft of Prince of Blades in Microsoft Word, but I always knew that I wanted to edit on Scrivener. There are just SO MANY tools for categorising and organisation that a Type-A personality like me just squeals in delight.
See below for an accurate representation of how I feel about Scrivener:
So I've been chugging through this first round of edits and...lemme tell ya...it has been HARD! I have made some pretty big structural and overall edits to the book that take a really long time to implement. Scenes have been deleted (oh the pain), scenes have switched POV, and scenes have been moved around.It's been like moving house...but you can't remember where you put anything, or if you really want to keep all the crap you own now or just throw it out and start fresh all minimalist-like....I'm still feeling the effects of those big changes and adjusting the manuscript accordingly as I go along but man - it takes a long time!
To add insult to injury...my characters have gone and done that thing where they change.
How rude
You think you know someone and then BAM...completely new person. I did really extensive profiles for my characters before writing the book - and these definitely helped - but I have learnt that the only real way to get to know your characters fully is to write in their shoes. As the first draft came along I learnt so much about the little people populating my pages that now I look back on the early chapters and slap my head going:
THEY WOULD NEVER SAY THAT!! SHE WOULD NEVER ACT THAT WAY!!
Side note: only minimal slapping occurred but I still wouldn't recommend it
It feels like I'm trudging through some major sludge with these edits at the minute...but the end of the slush field is in sight and I need to get there! I already have soooooo many notes of things to include and change in the next round of edits, but once these major structural things are all ironed out I feel confident that the revisions will speed along nicely.
Don't you just love optimism?
I am hoping....silently pleading...that this first round of edits is done by the new year. I have a lot of work to do for uni over the next few weeks so progress will no doubt continue to be slow...but it's progress...and I'm making it. So yay
How are you doing with your writing? What are you working on? Did you make any good progress this month? What are your goals for December?
Let me know in the comments and don't forget to link your blogs so I can pop over for a read.
(all photos sourced from Google unless stated otherwise)
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