I am very task oriented. It isn’t a bad thing, as it means I have an overwhelming need to finish something before starting the next project. However, that it is an impractical mindset in this day and age. With time split between work and home, and home split between writing, building a house, spending time with my family . . . well, you get the picture. No task can be completed front to back without something intruding.
Why tell you this? Well, I actually finished writing the first draft of Rule of Fire LAST Sunday!
I was so excited . . . I put off dinner, bed, everything because those last three chapters are so pivotal and build off each other. When finally finished with the last word, I was shaking and happy, my energy spent. I meant to skip right over here and tell everyone, only I already had a blog post promised, and I was really spent. So, I put it off, and then I decided to start reading through the rough draft, outlining the chapters to see how much work they needed in edits and polish . . . .
Well, now its Monday, Monday late afternoon actually. Ahm, I’m only at chapter 24 as far as reading/light editing is going. I finally forced myself to put down my incomplete task (gasp!) and work on my blogs. It’s painful, I assure you.
The funny thing is, despite my one project at a time nature, I’ve actually started on the final book of the trilogy, Spirit of Life, while beginning the edits to Rule of Fire. I’ve never written something and edited a different (though related) project at the same time. Every once in awhile, the pressure of ideas formulating builds too much and I have to put down everything to write bits of the next chapter or scene in Spirit of Life. I can’t really help it. When I get the need to write out of my system, I go back to editing.
This is just a light first edit . . . an estimate of how much work needs to go in to get the manuscript ready for my editor as well as looking for flaws in the plot or with a character’s actions. I found a doozy of a nearly missed opportunity too! Have you ever read a novel where you could see the possibility for a great plot twist but the author never took it? Well I found one, in my own novel no less! Glad I picked up on it as it will make the next book that much better and really ties the stories. Which gets me so excited about the next book that I might just have to go and write a bit more . . . okay, as soon as I finish this. 😉
I hope to get Rule of Fire to my editor by the end of February, but I’ll let the edits take as long as they need to. There is a lot of polish and smoothing needed, plus a couple of chapters that I think are flat. Those will take some work!
Before sticking my nose back into editing . . . or writing, I’ll end with something else I noticed last week: a review to Born of Water I hadn’t see before! It was posted at Amazon in November and I just never saw it until last week.
“I read a lot of fantasy and I’d rate this as a great new author and a great new story! I can not WAIT for the next book and will check back often for it!” – Katy Reany of VA
Thanks Katy! Well, the sequel is well on its way and the finale begun as well!