Gotta make sure that spelling is right, meantime instead of mean time; but I digress. It is time to work on the book, the sequel to Fire Race, but I have decided to adapt to the realities of life. Working on the fourth draft is important, but a surgery and the holidays mean these next few weeks will be chaotic, but there is always something to do. Here’s what I’m going to do.
Usually, a few drafts from now, I’d start piecing out the edits. No story changes. No new characters. But there are lots of edits that should be consistent throughout the book.
Then the ‘aliens’ (really the residents because the humans are the true aliens) speak (though they don’t speak because they don’t have mouths but I’m not going to describe that here) they emphasize certain nouns by capitalizing them (though they don’t write, so it is me capitalizing their ‘speech’). They have few things in their lives so each one gets added emphasis. The humans have finer distinctions. Some things get capitalized, some don’t. The Embassy gets a capital E for the residents. But what will I do with the humans who live with lots of things? Decisions must be made! Or at least there’s a consistency that is worth enforcing.
Then there are the common grammar and spelling errors; they’re, their, there. The residents don’t have genders, so make sure I take out him and her. Trial and trail change a sentence’s meaning.
It is common for me to work from a list of two dozen notes to chase down. This work will happen earlier in the cycle, but I’m okay with that. (okay or Okay or OK)
Thanksgiving is in a few weeks. After that is a dance camp. Then, knee surgery. Then Christmas and New Years. A full draft can easily take more than a month, which means the fourth draft will probably be done in February.
In the meantime, there are dozens of things to check and fix. Each can be done in a day, usually. None have to be done in any special order. But they should be done before publication.
January will be the start of the fourth draft. Any undone edits can be done at my discretion. Hey, I’m retired. I can cut myself some slack. Readers may want it sooner, but reality suggests finishing in 2027.
I’ve written enough books that I have lost track. Along the way I’ve learned and developed my writing style. That’s a benefit. This story seems to be in a better shape than its fourth draft predecessors. Cool. Good. Don’t get cocky.
Oh yeah, and I gotta make sure I get all of their names right. Ari is the main character, but spellcheck sees ‘air’ and thinks everything is fine. Oops. Like I said, lots of work to do.
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