Out with the old – in with 2019 – Happy New Year!

 January 1, 2019

It’s the final post of 2018.  As this year comes to a close writing wise I had a pretty good year.  I published my first novel – No Soul, No Service. I even sold a few copies. Someone purchased a physical copy and I got to sign it. It was weird and surreal, and pretty damn cool.

2019 is going to be a good year. I’m going to put out Angel’s Kiss hopefully Q1. I’m going to revise and rerelase No Soul with it updated, cleaned up, and a more solid product.  I’m going to work on book 3 and the other books on the docket.

I’m also going to try and post more frequently.  If anyone has a topic please hit me up.

For this post I’m going to talk about my process of revision. It’s by no means complete as I’m constantly refining and updating it.

After I finish my initial draft I like to let it sit for a week or two. This allows me to put some distance from it. When I come back I’ll have fresher eyes. Things that I thought were gold (well maybe silver or copper, bronze perhaps) lose their luster. I can generally polish and clean those things up.

I’ll go through an initial read and make notes. Things that were clear to me when I wrote it are usually less so. That allows me to go in and clarify.  I’ll also look for plot holes that I initially missed or plan to update things to tighten the story.  Case in point – I made a big deal about West getting something and the way he got it, yet after the first read through it was more filler than anything. I needed to give it some weight, some meaning if I’m going to give that many words to it.

This led to a chapter I had to sketch out and write to give that thing some more meaning. That led to another chapter to follow up and close that circle. So far I’m pleased with both chapters. I feel that they do add to the story making it stronger.

Another big thing I’ve started to look at is over used words. We all have our own idiosyncrasies when it comes to writing. Words and phrases we really like. Those can be good for flavor, to give the piece a more personal feel. When you use a program like ProWritingAid you discover quickly how many times you use some words.  It can be painful. Take heart, however! It’s a draft and you can go in and fix this.

That’s about all I have the brainpower for right now. How about y’all? What tips do you have for editing or revising? What topics would you like to see in the future?  would anyone like to be a guest poster on my blog? Comment below or hit me up on Social Media.

Happy New Year and I’ll see you on the flipside.

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