Exciting update! I have been writing down the exploits of a pair of weirdos in an imaginary world for the better part of my adult life. Now, for the first time ever, those exploits read like a book. I am so, so, so excited.
Now it’s time to marinate it.
Not in a sauce, although I do have a really good steak marinade recipe…hmm. I should make that for dinner next week.
I am very proud to report that draft three is in good shape. The word count is 122,837, a far cry from the 180,229 words with which I started. There are no “WRITE THIS SCENE” chapters, and for bonus points, I re-numbered all the chapters correctly.
After years of on-again, off-again anguish over how my story did not feel like a real book, I can finally look at it and go, ok. This time, this version of the universe, it feels like a book. A book with two chapters too many, perhaps, but an actual, coherent book.
But before I give it a full read, the storyline needs to settle, hard new words soak into the page. I need to let the angst of a plot change mellow into a slight tension, the surprise of a twist bloom so it feels fresh when I re-read. A month gives me a totally new set of eyes, but I am trying not to push the beta reading phase into the fall/winter holidays. Fingers crossed two weeks will be enough distance to make useful changes.
In those two weeks, I will not touch it at all. Not a peek, not a quick search for stray commas.
I will read other people’s words, and it will be delightful.
After the marination is complete, I will print a hard copy and read that. Note to future self: you can only touch copy editing errors on the first read through. DO NOT TOUCH THE PLOT BEFORE YOU READ TO THE END. At the same time, I will be putting out the bat signal to my beta readers, warning them that a 480-odd page tome is on its way to their inboxes. I will refine characters and plot points with the results of my research, and finally, when all that is complete, I will finally be able to do the thing that sent me on this absurd journey all those years ago: share a story with people who would love to hear it.
Allison Ringness 