#WIPMarathon August Update

It's time for another #WIPMarathon update, hosted by the lovely Ifeoma Dennis!

Last report wordcount:

I was at 84K of my draft and 2K of the new YA SF WIP.

Current report wordcount: 

I finished my draft at 88K. I'm now at 17K of the YA SF.

I got my edit letter for Indestructible. I added/rewrote 2-3K words and did some pretty big character/plot revisions. Then I did a quick editing pass on the other two books in the trilogy to fix continuity issues.

Delinquent: An Alliance Novella was published! Obviously, I spent release day editing. ;) I did another revision pass on Collision (Alliance, #3) after feedback, cutting around 1000 words, and sent it to more beta readers.

Then I did the final proofread of Demon Heart (Darkworld, #3). It's out on the 19th October! I also got first-round edit notes on Darkworld 4, so I had to switch my brain back to Darkworld mode. I added 5000 words and rewrote the climactic scenes twice.

And I got another editing letter today, so now I'm back in the editing cave with the sequel to Indestructible.

Related: my brain has melted, and I can't read because my Inner Editor is shredding everything in sight.

WIP issues this month: Time, focus and project-juggling. Two rough rounds in the editing cave and the accompanying self-doubt and impostor syndrome because I've written 22 books and still can't write a half-decent first or even third draft. *sigh* This seems to happen every single time, regardless of the genre/category/time spent drafting/level of outlining...

Four things I learned this month in writing:

• I get a lot more writing done when I'm not juggling a dozen things at once. When I drafted the Alliance series, I didn't work on any other writing projects (apart from a brief break for Demon Heart (Darkworld, #3) edits) so I was constantly immersed in the series for about eight months. Jumping projects takes a lot of energy, and even more when it's a jump between drafting and edits. I currently have three series in edits, plus my WIP series... not to mention all the release planning and promotion. This is inevitable, really, but I do miss those 3-6K writing days...
• Like I mentioned before, I'm now keeping a working chapter-by-chapter outline of my WIP as I write (an outline of what I actually wrote, not the original plan). I'm an idiot for not starting this sooner, because it's exactly how I approach content editing and manuscript appraisals for clients. I find the best way to get a good sense of the overall structure of a story is to write a quick summary of each chapter as I read (as well as a timeline and any issues that crop up). For some reason, it's taken two years to realise I can approach editing my own work in the same way. *headdesk*
• 2013 Emma was an idiot. (The manuscripts I've been editing were written before I knew how to outline, plot character arcs or write fight scenes, among other things.) *more sighing and headdesking*
• Related: it's easier to build a new world and story from scratch than to revamp an old one, particularly a series. I'm cleaning up the mess 2013 Emma made of two series, and it's hard to a) remember what in the world I was thinking when I wrote it, and b) add in new stuff without accidentally contradicting old stuff and introducing a flood of continuity errors. It's like playing Story Jenga on top of a conveyor belt...

What distracted me this month when writing: Everything! The Pitch to Publication deadline was yesterday, and I've been working on that alongside client edits. I had an influx of emails due to the contest, which was awesome, except I decided to publish a book and go on holiday to Italy, too. Then I got another part-time freelance editing job. And I booked cover art and editing for my YA post-apocalyptic series, planned promotions for three series over the next year and a half, and generally flailed around in sleepless lunacy.

*brain explodes*

Goal for next month:

I'm hoping to finish editing my YA post-apocalyptic trilogy, do final revisions on Collision (Alliance, #3), and finish Darkworld revisions. This may be over-ambitious, but we'll see!

Last 200 words: 

A rough excerpt from my YA Sci-Fi/Paranormal/Cyberpunk WIP :)

My head’s down, my hood up, the cuff on my wrist hidden under my sleeve the best I can. Few people are about. This isn’t a place with a vibrant nightlife. Most of the windows are darkened. Houses abandoned when the spirits moved in.

I turn the last corner, pulse drumming against my cuff. Then I feel it—the sharp tingle that tells me: a spirit’s around here somewhere.

I walk slowly, then force my pace to quicken. If I can feel the spirit, I must be close, and I can’t afford to hesitate for long. If it’s been hours since the Agency sent in a team, there must be a reason.

Maybe they’re planning to send in the major agents.

Breathing slowly, trying to calm down, I ready my ghost light. This street is deserted and at least half the houses are abandoned. I follow the tingling sensation in my left wrist past house after house, waiting for that familiar feeling. Waiting to know there’s a ghost that needs to be exorcised.

I’ll figure the rest out later.

Lights flicker as the ghost lamp on the corner comes on under the darkening sky. The shadow stretches like a hand reaching from the dark. My ghost light’s reflected back at me from blackened windows, but underneath, I look like a frightened kid. Not a hunter.