First draft is finished!

It took about a year longer than planned, but the first draft of Dynamo City Book 2 is finished.


*pause for a short celebration*

And now back to business. Ugh.

Editing is next and will, no doubt, cause me to fill the air with a myriad of colorful curse words as I pick through my work. Such is the writer's lot: finish a book, only for it to not really be finished at all.

Usually writers like to make their WIPs* longer than they intend to publish, that way when editing is complete and you've slashed a couple of thousand words off your word count, you can still bring the book in to the length you want it to be. Right now, my word count is a little...light since I excised a large chunk of my third act during the writing process.

I know there are a couple of chapters that need some work and filling out, but the trick will be getting the book back to a satisfactory length, while not hurting the story. At the end of the day, it'll be counter-productive to add filler to my novel just to hit a certain word count. Editing is all about tightening the story beats, eliminating the bone-headed stuff, and possibly taking another run at any missed opportunities from the first draft. Did I mention the bone-headed stuff? LOL. You'd be surprised at some of the stuff that gets caught in edits, so it's always good to get rid of them so readers aren't commenting on it in your book reviews!

Once I'm satisfied I've got the best book I can write, I'll hire an editor to then pour scorn on my grammar, punctuation, telling, passive voice, adverbs, vagueness, and the general construction of the story. And after it's been torn apart by an editor, I'll fix it again, and then, maybe, it'll be fit for human consumption.

Wish me luck.

WIPs* = Work(s) In Progress