Progress Report -- First Draft

I've cleared a big hurdle on my work in progress -- the first draft. 

My goal was to have it completed by Oct. 31, so I was only one day off the mark. I've written nearly 71,000 words in the sequel to "Old Ways and New Days," which was published October 2015.

I'll probably sit on it a few days before going back for the first of several rewrites. I hope to have it ready for my publisher by the end of the year. Let me repeat that. I hope to have it ready...

During the next few days I'll skim over my notes on OWND and the new work, and probably give OWND a quick read to make sure I have everything down -- timeline, characters, scenes, subplots -- to expand and extend the story. There will be a new set of note cards and reference sheets to guide me along the way. It's kind of like being in school again.

The manuscript will probably grow during the rewrites. In the past, I've generally added 20,000 or more words to an overall count although I do some trimming, sometimes extensive, along the way as well. I prefer shorter novels, in the 75k range, but in the end, it's the story that really dictates how long it will be when it's ready to be published.  

It's an interesting and time-consuming process. But it can get tedious as well, especially when going over the manuscript nine or 10 times before turning it over to an editor. I must admit that I get tired of reading the words after about the fifth or sixth time. That's when a good editor is invaluable because they see things that you don't see or that you think you see on the screen.  

That's all for now. I'll keep you posted along the way to publication and beyond.

Until the next time....