Well, that was fast. Hmm. Too fast? Or have I gotten better at writing a book? Note, I don’t know if I’ve gotten better at writing a better book, but it would be kind of surprising if I hadn’t. Tenth, eleventh, twelfth time’s a charm? Less than one month to complete the third draft of Fire Moon, the third book in my Exodus/Genesis scifi series which started with Firewatcher. I’m not done yet.
Most of my books take ten drafts. I’ve described my process before, but it is flexible. This draft of this book had fewer things to fix, fewer plot holes, and generally a flow that feels fine – to me.
This book will be different. I’ve done three drafts, but I’m not ready for formatting and detailed edits, yet. This is my opportunity to add flavor. The raw ingredients are there. I think it is fine enough. But I want another run through to add spices, humor, insights.
I don’t know what those additions will be. The fourth draft will be edits delivered to individual paragraphs and sentences. In Firewatcher, making one word plural turned the series into a potential series of series. I can imagine glimmers of other sequels. It could branch into horror, mystery, more adventure. My current favorite is ala Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, not the dead part, but the expansion of characters who are overlooked in the original story.
But that’s for another sequel.
Reality influences what comes next. It is November. The holidays are here. I’m not surprised if drafts take longer. I also have knee surgery in a month. I don’t know if that is going to give me more time or less because I don’t know what the recovery will be like. January for sure. Done within a year? Probably. I’m not on a deadline. I am retired. I get to practice acting like it.
This might also be a time to keep the story where it is, ~80,000 words. Character development can always be expanded. Literal color highlights can be added to scenery. References to characters for future sequels can go in now. Or, a nice tight story may be worth preserving, with some editing, of course.
I pause because I can.
Yeah. That’s about enough. There’s always more to say. The most important part of this post, for me, is the date so I can check any future draft on how long this one took.
Okay. A drink? It’s not that big a thing, but maybe I should also learn how to celebrate little accomplishments, as if 80,000 words is little. Maybe I’ll pat myself on the back.
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