Writing Update

It’s been a while (again) since I gave an update on what I’m up to in the world of writing, so I thought I’d correct that today (as I’m going up to Bangor for a library meeting the whole day, and am looking for something to write about in advance.)

I’m actually finding myself in a bit of a wealth of projects to work on at the moment, and I’m doing my best not to stress about them all too much. Here’s what I have on:

  • MEMORY THIEF revision. I got the first past revision notes from my editor right before I left for Slovakia. Didn’t touch writing at all while I was away, but I’ve been hitting it hard since I came back. This revision is actually a fair bit more extensive than I’d initially thought it would be. I’m eliminating a character for about 2/3rds of the book, overhauling the climax, elaborating on several new layers to the magic system, and more. I’ve also got a deadline of October 9th. It’s different writing with a firm deadline, mainly because there are some things on the checklist that I don’t know how to estimate how long it will take me to complete them. (When I’m writing new material, it’s straightforward. Get to 1,000 words, and then I know I’ve done enough for the day. That doesn’t work right now.) I think I’m getting close to being done, actually. I believe I know how I want the climax to play out now, and all that’s left is to check that, write it, write a new denouement, and then go over everything for consistency. And I still have three weeks to get that done.
  • OUR LADY revision. I’ve gotten the notes from both of my agents on this revision, and I’ll be going to that as soon as MEMORY THIEF is done. This one wasn’t too bad (from what I remember), so i don’t anticipate it taking me too long to finish. In an ideal world, I’d like to get OUR LADY out on submission before the end of the year. I think that’s doable, but I need to end up with a quality draft for that to happen. The good news? One agent started his feedback by saying “I think this is probably my favorite of your books so far.” Those are good words to hear from an agent.
  • BOOK BINDER’S CURSE revision. The book that was formerly known as my Peter Pan adaptation. I’ve gotten some feedback from a number of beta readers, and there’s some major work to be done on this one. I’ll head on to that when I’m done with OUR LADY. I’ll need to reread the book, read over the feedback, and come up with a plan of attack. It needs quite a bit of help.
  • MAGIC AT 30,000 FEET revision. I haven’t touched this one since I finished the first draft. I’ll need to read the book through and see how it turned out, then revise it to get it to a point where it’s ready for beta readers to give me some feedback.
  • Second MEMORY THIEF revision. Once my editor has had a chance to read my revision, I’m sure there will be more revisions in store for me. Hopefully not as extensive, but one never knows. The revision I’m working on now involved me making changes, then making changes to those changes that affected unchanged parts . . . it can get pretty messy, pretty fast. And we still haven’t addressed smaller stuff like wordsmithing, etc.
  • SECRET NEW PROJECT. If I’m really good and get all of those revisions done, then I get to move onto actual new writing, something I haven’t done in quite some time. I have a new book plotted and ready to go, but I’ve been waiting to get to it until I have some room to breathe. I hate starting a new book and then putting it down in the middle.

Phew! No wonder I feel like there’s a lot going on. Really, I’ll feel good about things once I can get past the deadlines. If I can get a book out on submission, then I’ll have bought me some time to get another one ready for submission next year. One a year. That’s the goal.

Wish me luck!

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