So how are things going? Still pretty slow, actually. But progress is progress, right? If I only get an hour of editing done every day, that's still a whole hour that I wasn't previously doing.
I've been stuck on Chapter 11 for pretty much forever. There were just a lot of things to work with. There was main plot and subplot. The chapter had three whole scenes, all with breaks in between, which I'm not a huge fan of. I like at most to have two separate scenes, or have a chapter that just flows through several days of action without actually making any breaks. Three scenes was a bit jarring to me, also considering the fact that not one, but TWO of them were make-out scenes. Seems a little excessive for one chapter. I kept wondering if both were really necessary.
The easiest decision for this chapter was that I did not actually need BOTH make-out scenes. Picking the one to keep was easy, too. The second one was longer and more in depth, actually progressing the physical relationship between my characters, which is what I'm aiming for whenever one of these scenes takes place. The first scene was really short and the purpose of it was more so that one character could manipulate another, which I realized I could just do with dialogue. The making out just wasn't necessary.
But anyway, this post wasn't supposed to be about make-out scenes (booooooooooooooo!). On Tuesday, I actually finished my edit of Chapter 11! And yet, the work isn't done.
See, when I started to work on that first scene, it was only two pages. And those two pages sucked. Seriously. I had a note on the first page that just said "make this not suck." So I basically approached it like I had to completely rewrite it. Maybe a few lines here and there could stay, but overall, completely new words. And that's pretty much what happened. And not just new words...a whole lot of new words.
Two pages eventually transformed into five. When I realized how long this scene was becoming, I figured it could probably stand as its own chapter. Now that it's finally done, my third draft has a complete Chapter 11. Woohoo!
However! I still have two scenes to edit from the original Chapter 11. Those two scenes will now be Chapter 12. This will probably throw me off when I talk about future chapter edits since I basically added an entirely new chapter to the third draft. But something is done, at least!
So, is my original Chapter 11 done? Not quite. But is my NEW Chapter 11 done? Yes! I'll take that as a win.
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| Old scene... |
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| New chapter! |
That's awesome! Yes, when you are on a roll, you can't stop.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your new chapter twelve.
You're making awesome progress and your new Chapter 11 is definitely a win. I love the comments you leave for yourself - make this not suck. That cracked me up :-)
ReplyDeleteKeep going, Sarah! You can do this! I see a Camp NaNo win in your future. :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck! It's good that you're so motivated and determined; that will definitely help you get through all the editing. I must confess that make-out scenes have always been difficult for me to write; I never know how to describe the way people feel or what they're thinking during those scenes without sounding cliched.
ReplyDeleteYay for progress! (and I sympathize about revision notes to the self like "make this not suck") @mirymom1 from
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A definite win! Keep on pushing forward. You can do it!
ReplyDeleteMy latest draft got 3 new chapters - written as 13.5 or whatever - and 2 chapters taken away. It's definitely not a problem when you add them, as long as you feel they're necessary :-) Happy Chapter Twelve-ing!
ReplyDeleteHey, blog posts should always take a back seat to getting writing done, especially when you're on a roll. Which is probably one of the reasons I've missed posting on my blog a lot this summer.
ReplyDeleteWay to go. You're getting there and just wait until it's done and you look back on it. You'll be a proud book mama.
ReplyDeleteI saw those pictures on Instagram. ;) Go you for finishing the new chapter 11. I've done that before and then I have to rearrange the plot/outline so I don't get confused.
ReplyDeleteWoot for progress! You know, your kissing scenes reminded me of my earthquake scenes. Having two of them just isn't necessary. :)
ReplyDeleteI have the opposite problem--too many chapters and words. I found two chapters that I could condense/omit and dropped 2K from my manuscript. Happy day.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're making excellent progress, especially as you got a completed chapter out of it. I only create chapters when editing, by breaking up the text, so I know it can be hard to define where one stops and another begins.
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