Progress: 114,452 words, Twelve Chapters (One second draft, 11 first draft)

All my editing plans went out the window. My checklist for this round of editing was to address specific scenes, not to read through the whole thing. Instead, I started at page one and kept on going. I will still address my early items of concern, with the bonus of having completed a full second draft when I cross all those items off the list.

I took a month between finishing my first draft and returning to edit, and it’s strange just how foreign and familiar everything is at the same time. I’m actually reading a book now, not just some pages I wrote. I know these people now. I know how they feel, and what they’ve been through, and I know where these characters will end up, at least to the end of this story.

Armed with this awareness of the whole, I’m able to add the details I couldn’t add before. The work really is in the editing, not the original writing. I’ve reduced the total word count by 2,600. I don’t know the actual number of words I’ve cut because I’ve written just as much, but three scenes are gone and two others have been merged. Chapter 1 feels tighter and moves with a sense of purpose. We’re headed somewhere.

I’ll create another checklist after finishing this revision, and I think it will be easier to adhere to, but I won’t be surprised if I just end up reading it through once more. I’m excited to get others to read it, but I can’t tell how long this second draft is going to take. Though it’s not ready for public consumption, I wish it were done. I have to remember though, there will be more editing than this, and all of it improves the novel.

Next time I’ll just write it perfect on the first draft. That should be easier.

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