Hey guys!
I've been away for the last two weeks, hunkered down at my computer in my room working on Book 1. My MS was handwritten and as I started editing, I typed up a page at a time, did the editing and then submitted it to my critique group. After a month I'd only typed up four chapters, each taking a week to perfect before I felt comfortable about submitting them before moving on.
I've got a twenty-one chapter MS with a epilogue. Talk about taking forever!!!!!!
My family (my husband and cousin) sat me down to get an update on my writing progress and pointed out that what I was doing was completely wrong. They told me to stop editing and get the whole thing typed. So I did. That took a week and a half and now I'm set to go back to editing. Thank God!!!!!
What can I say people, I'm developing my writing technique as I go along. Hey, this is my first book! LOL...
It is now Monday and I'm preparing to dive back in and get to work. I've armed myself with articles on self-editing and grammar to aid myself in doing a good job. Something must be sticking because as the critiques have started coming back from my partners, I've been getting less remarks about passive writing/phrases and repeats. Thank goodness because I hated English class in high school and reading about it is BORING! But alas, it must be done to make my writing better.
For those of you who have not read my previous blogs, I am working on a six book series. I've got all six books tentatively outlined (in my head, not all on paper just yet) and have a good idea how I want to tell these stories. I've come up with a series title that I feel will carries the meaning of what my characters will be going through: The Butterfly Memoirs. I'll delve into the meaning of this title in another blog. The name of the first book in the series has also changed. Instead of it being The Healing Heart, it will be titled: A Heart Not Easily Broken.
More great news! My cousin has read my entire MS, the first eyes outside of my own, and has given me great feedback! She loved the storyline, the characters and could really see the emotion of the characters. She didn't have any suggestions to make to the characters, storyline or emotions stand out more. And she wasn't bored! This might sound crazy, but if you haven't read my last post I have to tell you, she doesn't like to read romance novels. If she gets board with reading, she will tell me or share suggestions on what to do to make it more interesting. My first draft (a year ago) had her semi-bored. But not this time!!!! If she likes it and can't wait to read book two, I've got something hot in my hands!
*Jumping around doing the booty shake dance*
So, I'm jumping back into editing with renewed confidence. I'm giving myself till November to have two rounds of edits done, my first being edits of my own, and second based on critiques from my partners before sending it out for professional editing. I'll keep you guys posted!
