Blog Post No. 421
It’s the last update of the year. Probably. I still have two weeks left and who know what I’m going to dig up to talk about. I have the 2021 preview post to do, so that means it’s next week’s topic that’s still to be determined. As far as updates go, though, this one is going to be mostly about Break/Interrupt. Christian finished his review and I finished going over his notes. As soon as that was done, I jumped back to the start of the book and started the fifth draft with the intent to chop it down even farther.
The best way I’ve found to go over the book in a decent amount of time without burning out has been to do four chapters a day. It’s currently at 32 chapters, so the math works out to eight days. The amount of work each day is enough to make me feel like I’ve gotten something done while being manageable enough that I can really dig into a chapter and find more to cut (and potentially crop out some necessary details and get rid of the rest). I’m not done the draft yet and I may do a draft 5.5 to check back on some sections I made notes for during this pass. I’ve managed to get the word count under 58 000 words, though. I hope that by the time I do get to the end of this draft (and maybe a half) I will have managed to trim it down even more. I’m thinking of it like a nice cut of meat in need of butchery. Each pass is getting it closer to the perfect steak.
It’s tough to cut stuff when you like it, though. It’s even tougher being able to tell if the cuts I’m making are any good or not. The fact is that the story does need to be more focused and I’m sure if I handed it over to a professional editor they would really give the book hell. I do have writer friends who have been nice enough to do edits for the previous novellas and I assume some of them will be up for it with this book. The thought that they will be going over it and will be able to tell me if there are any holes or awkwardly edited sections puts me somewhat at ease.
I hope to be able to get it out to the next batch of people next week. It’s way behind where I want to be. Realistically I have three months to get the book to the printer and as I’ve said, people need time to go over it. the more time they have, the less rushed the edits will be. Plus, they are all hard at work on their own stuff.
So, that’s where I am right now. Feeling like I’m in the same place I was a month ago. The ebook is back on hold, but it should be easy to pick back up again when I’m waiting on the next edit. The Invasion Novel is not going to be looked at until probably April which sucks, but I’d rather be behind than put out a bad book. Any new writing is totally off the table for the foreseeable future. I still hope to get a few shorts done between the novella and novel, but we’ll see where I am in March. As for the Day Job, I have no idea what is on the horizon. Now that we’re back in lockdown, my chance to go back is even less likely. I’m still getting unemployment for now, but before that is gone, I need to either get hired back or find something new. It’s not something that’s pressing right now, but it’s definitely at the back of my mind. I have come up with some ideas, but when I’m ready (or have to) actually find work, I may not have the luxury to choose. At least I’m making progress with my writing (sort of).
Ben Van Dongen 