Release the Editing Hounds!

So. It’s Wednesday. Edits for the novel Have Begun. I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it here before or not, but Liana Brooks and I are working through the How To Revise Your Novel course together over the coming months to work on our novels. Liana is doing Twisted Metal, which she literally finished drafting last weekend; I’m working on Jesscapades, which I finished over a year ago and am still having conniptions about.

Diving into edits is scary. I’ve done the course before on my novella-turned-novel which used to be called The Hunted Hunted, was often known as ‘the tiger one’, and is now called Marked. I can say with all sincerity that it is a fantastic course, and has taught me to look for so many problems I would never have even thought to check for before.

But that, in many ways, is why it’s scary. Marked was a relatively clean, 20k draft. Jesscapades is a 70k MESS. And not only is the plot a mess, I’m also intending to tear the MC in two and resurrect half of her as her in-this-draft dead sister. So. Much. Work. It’s boggling, and most of me wants to run away in terror because it doesn’t understand how I can do this.

But I have a process. I’ve done this before. I just have to let go and trust the process. Easy, right?

Riiiight.

It’s not all doom-and-gloom, though. I forgot that I actually did some of the first step on this novel months ago, and I found the sheets on Sunday – the sheets where I had to answer three questions:

1- Why did I write this book? What was my inspiration and motive?

2- What did I want from my main character? Who was she supposed to be?

3- What was the story I wanted to tell when I started with page one?

And you know what? I like my answers. There is something in this idea that I loved enough to wade through 70k for, there is a spark and a sparkle and life and fun. I had an idea that I loved, and it does me well to be reminded of that.

And so, I edit. Into the trenches, I wade, novel in one hand, Liana clutched tightly in the other. This is possible. I trust my process. And I will have a glorious, shiny novel at the end of it.

Here I go…


P.S. Last night during edits, we had a 3 minute storm that knocked the power out for about 40 mins o.O Hence, editing by candlelight :D