Last Updated on August 26, 2020 by ThoughtsStained

Hello, lovelies!

I hope today, you woke up from a restful sleep, got to eat a really good breakfast and the weather was exactly how you prefer it (I know, the biggest fantasy possible, but hey, I can still hope for it, right?). I’m back today with the second installment of the Novels and Narratives feature, where I talk about what I’m writing, my writing progress and any other random things tied in with that.

First off, I have to say an amazing THANK YOU to everyone who read last month’s post. It received such positive praise and I am AWED by that. So thank you, truly, for the support. I’m so glad so many of you enjoyed and connected with this series and I’m so excited to continue it!

So, how did this month go?

How’s your progress going?

Well, actually! I did the math and figured out I needed to edit 15 pages every day, in order to hit my September 1st deadline to send it back to my editor for a second readthrough. At the end of last month, I was on page 147 out of 421. Currently, I’m on page 275 out of 425. So, I’m a little bit behind, but I am planning to catch up next week and then finish out anything I have left next weekend, for sure. I am not missing that deadline!

Wait a second. Did…did your page count go up?

Yeah….about that. I am NOTORIOUS for adding more words when I’m editing, rather than cutting them out. I started this round of revisions at roughly 112,000 words and I’m up to almost 120,000 (shush, please don’t tell my editor).

I have a problem.

What have you enjoyed the most about your edits so far?

It’s been really fun to read the latter half of the novel again. I made quite extensive edits to the second half of the novel the round before I started querying, based on beta feedback, which was very helpful and needed! But, this is the first time I’m reading the novel all the way through with those edits incorporated, so it’s almost like discovering my story again, which has been really fun.

I also just feel…so much more confident about my beginning, when needed the bulk of the work, I think. How it started is totally fine and right where it’s always needed to be, but the writing style and the way I told it was off; too much exposition. However, I feel a lot more positive about it now–perhaps because I find myself needing to edit less as I go further in, thanks to discovering I actually do a better job with showing the story in telling later, I think!

What are you still nervous about?

Does the entire thing count? Is that an adequate answer?

No?

Well, I’m nervous about the increased word count. I know I’ll have another round after this, based off Jeni’s feedback, but I plan to submit my R&R after that and then query a few more agents, so I’m nervous the word count is going to turn agents away. However, I also feel it’s a very appropriate length for what story I’m trying to tell, so I’m trying to be confident in that.

Any favorite passages you care to share?

I’m sure I have tons, but I honestly didn’t remember to note any I was particularly proud of (and that aren’t spoiler-y, since I am in the latter half of the book), so hopefully I can do something like this next week, if anyone was interested?

Any new news?

Only that I’ve been on a romance reading kick lately and that inspired some intense desires to write a romance fantasy; so intense, that I ended up staying up until one in the morning thinking about it, already have a draft of the main cast and main romance tropes I want to incorporate (only one bed, anyone?) and started working on a rough outline as a reward for finishing edits on a chapter last week. 😅

So, yeah, I’ll prolly start working on that story after I query BLOOD PRICE again, because I have Ideas.

I really liked the fake interview style, so I’m going to stick with it. Is it weird to interview myself? Yes. Knowing me, is that also oddly on brand? Also yes.

What about you? Do you write? What projects are you working on? Let me know in the comments, because I want to support more writers!! Also, if you follow any bloggers who post about writing, would you mind linking them below? I really need to find more of them!

Cheers.