I think I’m in a mood. That title is weird.
Aaaaanyway. If you had asked me during the first half of September, I would have told you this month was a wash. I honestly didn’t revise anything in the first two weeks (partially owing to work and a wild trip to Disneyland). I thought I wouldn’t be able to keep up with my proposed schedule of getting this book done by the end of November. However, I pulled some intense writing sessions out of nowhere and ended up getting a full 44 pages revised in just two and a half-ish weeks! Go me!
Starting off with finishing chapter 28, it didn’t involve as many revisions as I was initially expecting. I did have to do some deletions and additions, but it wasn’t a full rewrite like I anticipated.
Chapter 29 was a flashback. It seems like those chapters are typically more refined in their original form and don’t require as much revision. I’m not entirely sure why that is, but it’s definitely something I’ve noticed. I guess having small, one-off stories lends itself to better writing from me. Who knew?
Chapter 30 was one of my original favorite chapters, and it’s still sitting up there in my top 3 for sure (probably top 2 if I’m being completely honest). This was, thankfully, another chapter that I had a clear vision on and required much less redlining. It’s a pretty intense action scene with a really fun reveal tied in.
Chapter 31 was another one affected by a heavy (but necessary) change. There were a couple characters that needed some changes. I don’t remember if I mentioned this in a previous post, but there were a couple characters added into the story around this point that felt a little tacked on. With my new ideas for the book, I’m slowly improving those characters while simultaneously making the story and the future character arcs more impactful. Needless to say, this chapter had some more heavy revisions involved. It’s also now officially the longest chapter in the book at 15 pages ending on page 300.
And this brings us up to speed. There are officially just over 90 pages left to revise which feels kind of crazy. I honestly didn’t think it would take me this long to finish this revision, but it’s also significantly better than where I was this time last year feeling slightly overwhelmed and unmotivated. The plan for October is to revise chapters 32-36, then November will finish it off with chapters 37-42. Each month requires another 45 or so pages, but I think I can do it. It’s so close I can taste it.
I also want to give a little update on my plan after I’m done with draft 3 of book 1 of Soulformer. In December, I don’t particularly plan on any heavy writing (especially considering it’s already a busy month with the holidays). For those that have been following along with previous blog entries, you’ll know my next book is going to be a sci-fi horror novel that I’ve started outlining and doing research on. I don’t expect I’ll start the first draft in December, but I do want to turn my attention fully to outlining and research so that I’m ready to start that book in January. That means January’s blog post maaaaay be a little more boring. I’ll have to figure out something fun to make it more interesting.
And that’s it for this month’s update! You got a little bit of what I worked on in September, plans for the rest of the year, and a taste of what’s to come in 2023. I kind of wish I had some cool scary-themed updates with it being October and everything, but the timing just didn’t work out. That’s ok! Maybe I’ll have something cool for next year. Possibly sci-fi horror themed…
See you next month!