The past thirty days have been very reflective for me. There has been upheaval in the world all around me and I have tried my best to ignore it (when possible) or deal with it (when necessary). It is very easy to get distracted in our modern society; minimizing those distractions, not giving them a chance to set up shop in your mind, is not only beneficial for a writer but also healthier. In my time at NYCC in October and a Star Trek convention in November (you do know I’m a total nerd, right?) I had a lot of brief but fun conversations with actors, and during those talks I occasionally brought up my dislike of social media. Every one of them commented that I had made a good choice for my mental health. One actor whom I greatly admire responded with very humbling words: “You’re a smart man.”
I did do a little writing in November, but the bulk of my time was spent on editing. I began the month far behind on my goal to edit book one of my YA series to the best of my abilities. When I decided to forgo the 50k word challenge this month, I pivoted my energies into attacking this goal. I can say now that I had a very successful month in that regard. I read the entire book out loud (to myself), which helped me identify a lot of errors and awkward sentences that had slipped through my earlier efforts.
And I did, as the saying goes, kill some of my darlings. That was a brutal experience, but one that I knew going in I would have to do. Many of the scenes I removed or trimmed down were unnecessary for the story. One in particular – a scene in a museum just before the action picks up again – felt like an exercise in self-indulgence. I really like that specific scene because I enjoyed the dialogue and the history I researched to write it properly. I wrote it as another lesson for the main character about the world he has been thrust into, but it stretched the chapter out too long and the focus needed to be more on the action and the events that happen later in the chapter.
I should also add that I did not erase these scenes, I merely cut them from the main work and pasted them into a separate file of deleted scenes and scraps of writing that I excised from the current draft.
Those cuts shaved words off the final count, which was one of my primary goals in this round of editing. When I did my first edits, I identified many places where things were unclear or missing, a few spots that needed to be deleted or moved, and some details I wanted to add to bulk up some of the characterizations. With this edit I added a couple of small bits and filled in those holes, but I removed much more, resulting in the word count dropping by more than 2,000 words. The draft is still a shade over 100K and I would like to get it down under that figure, but I will probably need some help from a professional to do that. I am sure there are other places that could be trimmed, but I am too close to see them (or I simply cannot bring myself to do it).
Looking at it now, those tough decisions made the story tighter and kept the flow going better, so as much I liked some of the pieces I trimmed, I know I did the right thing. It is always possible that they will find their way back into the story in a different form, but I am a long way off from that.
With the next writing update being the last of 2024, I will be taking time to reflect on my year and to look forward to 2025. It may be a longer post that usual as I recap what I accomplished and what I would like to get accomplished next year. Some things will be carried forward because, as you know if you have read my ramblings, my plans were influenced by and thus altered by events out of my control. As you review this list one last time, I think you will be able to tell what will be carried over into the new year.
1 – I want finish editing book one of my YA series to the point that I consider it good enough for publication (it probably won’t be, but I want to get it as far as I can take it). Substantial progress has been made. I may not get this 100% of the way done, but I will be damn close.
2 – I want to begin querying agents to see if I can publish that book, and its sequels, traditionally. My query letters are as good as I can get them. I will shell out a little money to see if I can get some professional assistance with this. (I may write a short blog post about this goal in the future.)
3 – I want to finish the first draft of book 2 in that series and begin outlining book 3 with an aim at starting the writing process this year as well. Sadly, I know this one will not be completed. I have postponed my private NaNo to January. But I do have some ideas for book 3 that are simmering.
4 – I want to have at least 2 short stories accepted for publication (not ones I submitted in 2023). Success! Blade of Glass and Repercussions have both been accepted, which means this goal is COMPLETE! Wow.
5 – I want to extend my visibility as far as social interactions and publicity goes. The Facebook needle is pointing in a positive direction. This goal was vague, since I don’t know how to measure it except by “followers” and that number has grown since the beginning of the year. So I will say this goal will be met by the end of the year.