Back in the Saddle Again…

So, it’s back to book #3 now. I’ve been working on revisions for book #2 so long, it was hard to get my head back in the story. It’s almost easier to write when you’re in the same book every day with the same characters. I tried to pick up where I left off and couldn’t get into it. Turned out I had made a wrong turn in the storyline and I had to find out where things unraveled. (You know you’ve made a wrong turn when sheep suddenly appear in the book. If you have nothing else to do but talk about sheep, there are clearly problems.) :loser:

Instead of making forward progress tonight, I deleted around 7 pages. Ouch. On the bright side, I think I fixed the problem (no sheep). Hopefully tomorrow will be better. My self-imposed deadline for this book is March 31st and I’m on page 96 now. The actual deadline is May 31st, but if I finish it earlier, I’ll have 2 months to work on revisions and line edits. Also, my copy edits for book #2 will likely arrive in March, just in time to interrupt my brain.

After 4 and a half books, I’m finally starting to get a sense of my own writing process. I need a loose outline to plan out what’s going to happen. When I revise, I’ve been known to delete massive amounts and add massive amounts. Then the editing process is kind of fun. I actually like that part because I don’t have to be so immersed.

I’m still excited about my cover. I believe I’ve stared at it around 736 times today. Each step in this process makes it a little more real.