Tough Week

The hardest thing about editing is the chapters that need to be rewritten. See, the first draft, I don't mind making tons of mistakes because there is only one way to fail at that stage and it is to not write it down in the first place. As I am fond of repeating ad nauseam, "you can edit shit into gold. What you can't do is edit a blank page." 

Editing from that point is easy. I'm literally just taking words that I already like and making them better. And honestly, rewrites at this stage aren't too bad either, since I'm not going for perfect, I'm going for good enough to show to my beta readers. While I'll drag my feet over completely new chapters that need to be added, I understand that a lot of my first draft won't survive to the final draft. 

After I get it back from my beta readers, I read over their responses and see what they think. I pay particular attention to areas that seem under-developed to them, to plots that they poke holes through and whether they like or hate the characters and why. Changes at this point are more difficult. I've been through it twice, once writing and once editing, and I'm at something I like. Still, sometimes as difficult as the changes are, they make the story 10x better. They are the changes that I just can't see on my own because I'm too close to the work. 

The this-isn't-even-my-final-form stage is to send it to the editor. The changes they suggest are the most difficult. I've changed it already, its nearly at its final form and I'll be honest, no matter how much my mind knows that my editor is going to tell me certain parts of it suck, my heart holds out hope that my editor will send me back a letter saying that all they had to do was some grammar and its perfect. As I said, that never happens. Its the most difficult here, I think, because I already have it at something I love. Not that the changes aren't necessary; changes at this stage are absolutely necessary and they're something that I can not see without help. These changes could rock my story to its core, or it could be an abrupt face motivation change to one of my characters. These changes leave me putting it off, dragging my feet and procrastinating hardcore. 

Which is where I am now. 

I love getting action shots of people taking my novel along with them and enjoying it on the beach or at work. It makes my day, every time. If you want to see your picture shared, email it to me at inkedfoxpress@gmail.com and I'll share it across my platforms. 

That said, I can see what my story was lacking before. It was a great book, but it was missing a firm base for the rest of the story to stand on. Now, I am working my way through the manuscript. I have finished rewriting my fourth chapter out of the six. My next three chapters will be relatively quick to work on since I'm not expecting many changes. Then I'll have two more chapters to write. After that, it's a quick run-through, tightening the story more and responding to the changes or questions mentioned by my editor. While I won't be finished in January, obviously since it's

going to be February in a day or two, I am setting a goal of having it back in my editor's hands by the 14th of February. 

Either way, I'll keep you informed. As soon as I've gotten it back from her, you should see a lot of information coming your way. That will be when you can expect release date information and cover reveal! So keep an eye out for that! If I'm lucky, I'll be able to have a release date for you soon!