Editing underway

Well, it has been for a while really.  But now I’m starting to get feedback from my alpha readers.

Some of it is structural (for example, somehow I managed to get a scene out of sequence) some of it is editorial (more description of the main city) and some of it grammatical (sigh, I really, really hate typos and grammos. (A grammo is like a typo, but in a grammar sort of way).

I’ve already done one pass based on the initial input and corrected the big things (I hope), and created a new file, which I just finished reading, and am now editing that.

There are a couple rough spots to smooth over, and at least one glaring POV problem (this is the first time I’ve written a novel with a shifting POV, and it’s a skill to learn like anything else). But a lot of the story feels solid to me. Good meat on the bones. Don’t feel anything like I did with Warlord where I read the first draft and thought “That ending is not going to work,” which basically led to three months more to correct that. Not feeling like that’s the case here with Mountain Home. Feels like making something solid already a bit more solid.

It’s getting there. Getting very close to submission quality anyway, whether it’s a story anyone likes or not.

I do intend to submit this to a traditional publisher first, instead of self-publishing. But if I can’t find interest fast, this might also be self-published. I do intend to try to find some way to do some actual marketing this time.

First draft done.

I am ready to call this first draft finished. I’ve gone through the entire story, beginning to end, and it reads like a story. I still will have to do some edits, and I’m only now starting to get some feedback from beta readers, but it’s a complete book now.

88,500 words more or less. My target was 90,000 words. I’m sure I’ll add some more in edits.

Having read it, I find it fairly satisfying. There’s a lot going on, though, and with the shifts of POV, I do have to go through and make absolutely sure I did not slip out of POV in a scene.

Right now it’s structured more or less as switching point of view with each chapter. In some cases there is some timeline overlap, so the same scene is given from both points of view. I hope that works.

First chunk out to beta readers

Well, I’ve sent a few scenes out sort of randomly over the past several months, but in some cases those scenes have been revised or even deleted.

This is the first time I’ve sent out what I expect to be essentially the final story. I expect lots of edits, there always are, but I hope I don’t have to rip this thing apart and put it together again like I had to do with Warlock.

The first chunk was 20,000 words or so. So not quite a quarter of the story. I’m working on the next chunk of edits now.

This thing is no longer about if, but all about when. 🙂

Mopping up

Hit the keyboard pretty hard this weekend. Wrapped up the major final battle scene. I’ve got some “aftermath” stuff to complete, and a LOT of edits, but the story is basically done.

Now it’s time to whip it into shape and get something out to my beta readers.

I have a decent shot to get this thing done by Christmas. 🙂

Getting close to the end

I just wish I could manage to spend more time writing. Things at work took a very difficult twist a month ago, and my time, effort and spirit has been focused primarily on dealing with that difficulty, not on my writing.

Still, I have managed to cross the 80,000 word threshold. I’m at 81,904 now, and 90,000 no longer looks intimidating. It looks inevitable.

More importantly, I have story momentum going, and I think the reader is going to find this book twists and turns more than most. I hope people like that. It feels very entertaining to me anyway.

I just finished yet another scene that takes the story into a totally unexpected direction. Lots of action, some hopefully deft character work, and some burning questions the reader should hopefully want to get answered.

Don’t worry. Answers are coming. But I don’t think they are what the reader will be expecting. 🙂

Still churning on Mountain Home

Crossed the 75K threshold today. Some good stuff in the last five thousand words. Or I think so anyway. Time will tell. Feeling pretty good about finishing this.

Still going

Over 70K words now. That’s starting to feel like a novel. I’m starting the wrapup, I’ve pulled the different story lines together, threw a couple more curves at the reader, and am now setting up the final climactic events that will bring this chapter of the story to a close. I’ve written some scenes lately that I think are pretty solid. I’m trying to get this to a draft form so I can send the full story to my my beta readers. I know I’ll have a lot of work to do when the draft is done. But that’s usually a fun part of the process.

Still haven’t done much for maps or a cover though. Just some basic ideas is all.

Still moving along

Been difficult lately to find time to write. This weekend I have to drive to and from Denver from Arkansas, so that’s going to be pretty much nothing but driving. I’m going to try to use my voice recorder to do some “writing” on the trip, but that hasn’t gone too well in the past. I’ll give it another try. Even if I don’t, I tend to get a lot of thought-work done while driving, which then makes writing much easier when I get in front of a computer.

Over 64K words now. The story is still moving forward smoothly. The writing continues to be fun right now. I just find it hard to find the time. Both of my children are moving out and moving across the country, so that’s taking a lot of my time. Wish I could write full time. But I gotta pay the bills.

Fun writing

I’m currently in that situation where I love writing. I’m having fun putting onto paper what is coming out of my head. This is a taste, I think, of what writers mean when they say a story “writes itself.” Right now the words are flowing, and the story is moving where I want it to go.

I think I have just one more really tricky plot point to work out. But I’m confident I will. I just haven’t got to the place yet where certain decisions have to be made. By the time I do, I hope I’ve got that bit ready too.

As far as word count goes, I’m over 62K now.  And counting.

Moving right along

Yeah, I stayed up too late. Again. But that’s when I can get some writing done.

Things are really coming together. All the different story threads are coming together nicely, and in a way that I think will catch the reader off-guard, but then they will say “Oh! Yeah, that’s right!”

Getting very close to 60K words. Starting to feel like the story has some heft to it.

When I was finishing my War Chronicles trilogy, I sometimes wondered if it would be possible for me to get as invested in a new set of characters as I was in those characters. I am happy to report that it is possible. I am really enjoying the characters in Mountain Home.