by Wes Penre, April 30. 2021

I finished the first draft of my novel yesterday. At its current stage, it’s 350 pages long, but that might change.

Now, the tedious parts remain; I need to edit it. This means I’ll read it, word by word, paragraph by paragraph, and chapter by chapter with a “magnifying glass,” making grammatical changes and rewriting parts I’m not happy with. Then, I’ll read it again, this time in context, as if I was reading the finished book. While doing that, I’ll make changes where I see fit, until I feel satisfied. Then, it’s time for beta readers. This means a few people read the raw manuscript and give their input. The reason for this is because the author (me) is so involved in the process of their work that they sometimes don’t see some of the mistakes and/or inconsistencies. Is the pace too slow? Too fast? Is it engaging? It’s the same even for very experienced authors. I listened to Brandon Sanderson, who is arguably the most famous fantasy author in the world right now. He goes through his manuscript five times before he publishes his books… I think Tolkien went through the Lord of the Rings a couple of dozen times.

Anyway, it’s exciting, and I’ll probably start the editing process tomorrow. 

It’s a trilogy, so there are two books left in the series.

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by Wes Penre, April 9, 2021

Hello everybody. I haven’t made an update here in quite a long time, and there is a reason for that. I have just gone through a separation with from fiancé, and I have, since one week back, established myself in a new space–a new apartment.

I am doing fine, by the way, and I am currently enjoying my solitude here. It creates time for me to think and develop my research but also my book. I have, as you can imagine, been very busy the last month or so since my partner and I decided to go different ways. Now, I’m getting comfortable in my new space, and my inspiration is coming back!

This morning, I started writing on the book again for the first time in several weeks. It went pretty well, and I only have three chapters left to write (sub plots) before it’s time to do some serious editing and have beta readers give their input.

The novel will be around 350 pages, as it seems, and it will be the first in a trilogy, as you might already know. There is a lot of work invested in writing and publishing a book if you want to be pleased with the result, and writing the first draft is just the skeleton. Now, it’s time to put meat on the body by editing the whole thing and rewrite whatever is needed. I just saw that Brandon Sanderson, who is one of the most successful fiction writers of our particular time, goes through his manuscript five times before he calls it good. But fortunately for me, I like editing my own work because I can really see how it develops and becomes better and better. The first draft is just a ranting of ideas, really.

So, I’m back on track, and I love working on this project!

Love,
Wes

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Thank you!