Yay! I’ve reached another milestone in writing this novel.
I finished this currently untitled project at the end of 2017, and then gave myself three months to do the first round of edits. I’m happy to report I finished only three weeks past the deadline.
The purpose of this round of edits was to situate everything in time and place. I wanted to know, on a scene-by-scene breakdown, who was involved in the scene, where it took place, what that place looked like, what time it was, etc. I also wanted to firm up the chronology since it takes place over the course of six years.
The next round of edits, for which I’m also giving myself approximately three months, is to integrate all those notes. I went through the manuscript and made notes by hand (ink on paper!) and now the whole thing needs to be rewritten to include those notes. This will take me from draft zero to draft one.
After I finish re-working all the sections to make them more grounded scenes I’ll go through the manuscript and tighten up the language on a sentence-by-sentence basis (essentially taking out all the verys and actuallys and turning passive voice into active voice). Then I’ll re-outline to make sure I have all the beats in place where I want them, then I’ll polish and infuse it with the voice I want, then it will be time to start getting feedback. If I stay on track I should have a readable copy by the end of the year.
It’s not done yet, but I’m happy to have reached this milestone tonight. I think I’m going to celebrate with a beer and maybe root around the refrigerator for something to eat.