right on schedule!

And I'm done (well, finished anyway) with the first go through right on schedule. Two months exactly, even with all the nonsense. Today, I will send the draft to the printers and then hand it out. Maybe... MAYBE they'll have it back to me on time.

In the meanwhile, my task is to

1. Do all the crap at work I've been ignoring -_-...
2. Write a query letter!
3. Write a synopsis!
4. Sit on both (seriously, you only get one shot, don't jump the gun)
5. Do all that map making and world building and what not for the next Eli novel.
6. Do all that map making and world building and what not for the next OTHER novel.
7. Don't obsess.

Now, off to get things done!

danger, TL:DR

Ok, the hard part of the edit/rewrite is, as of 12 this morning, DONE. Left-to-dos as follows:

1. Edit final chapter (duh) - mostly polished, minor editing. Should be doing it right now, actually :P. DONE

2. Go through the words listed below - seriously, I can't REALLY need to use suddenly twice a chapter... DONE

3. Codify the world - make sure everyone's names are consistent all the way through, check the details, do anyone's eyes change color? Are Miranda's rings on the right fingers? Do her spirits change names? Does Renaud gain/lose an arm somewhere? Etc. This really should have been done during this edit, but it wasn't. Spot check as best you can and then save the real combing for Edit 2. DONE

4. Go though all the sections where I talk about magic and make sure I'm a) giving enough information for understanding, and b) not overstating or over-explaining and that each explanation matches the speaking character's world view and knowledge. - this includes both Miranda talks in the beginning, Eli's talk in the clearing, Miranda's talk to the king, Coriano's talk, and the stuff at the end. DONE

5. Go back over the beginning - this part is the most stylistically different, make it more like the rest of the book.

6. Go over all the new sections and make sure they make sense - including new Coriano/Renaud transition section, the walk under the city, and the ending. You've got 16k new words, make sure they're good. Also, watch for wordiness. You get wordy when you don't know what you're talking about.

7. Save, reformat, and clean up everything to go in a Bel Jean's book to hand out for reader copies - on the list: Trav, Tim, Steven, Andrea, Matt B., Aaron, Krystina, and Emily (8 total). Check price of copies, this may not be practical. Emily needs one for sure, though. See if Alex can get you a discount :P.


While the book is out with beta readers in November, my job is to:

1. Codify the world - draw maps, add roads, write out spirit naming conventions, etc.

2. Plan out the second novel thoroughly so I know if I need to add anything in this one. I want a scene by scene with all major events mapped out. Don't start writing it, just make sure you're not shooting yourself in the foot.

3. Write query letter, synopsis, and finalize your agent list (the fun part!)


When I get the reader copies back in December (hopefully) I need to:

1. Go through the novel line by line, applying the codifications listed above.

2. Read through everyone's notes and implement the best of them, fix problems people point out.

3. Get the manuscript agent ready.


THEN, in January, I...

1. Query until I sell it - my goal, 1 acceptance or 30 refusals by my birthday.

9 days until the end of the edit...

and god, do we have far to go.

Rewriting the climax to be more climatic, then going back to edit it to make sense.

Once that's done, I have a special project:

I will go back through my novel and make sure every instance of:

suddenly (31)
then (153)
next (33)
very (66)
the (300+)
! (too many to count)

and all dialogue tags that aren't "said" actually need to be there.

God, it's time to learn to write.