Category: writing as a business

  • Still replotting, still restructuring on Ohio 3

    Still replotting, still restructuring on Ohio 3

    There’s damn little I’m going to be able to save. Ohio 3 is lost in the weeds. So at this point, I’m barely even looking for things to save. I’m just looking for the story I wanted to tell but didn’t, and if I can use any of what I already wrote, great. If not……

  • Here’s that Wrong Left Turn In Albuquerque… and it’s as bad as I dreaded.

    Here’s that Wrong Left Turn In Albuquerque… and it’s as bad as I dreaded.

    The first sixty pages of Ohio 3 held up fine. Starting on manuscript page 61, I went in exactly the wrong direction, dropped the really good local character I had in place for one who broke my otherwise tight worldbuilding through two novels and the start of this one all to shit, threw in a…

  • Starting the Ohio 3 Read-through/Revision

    Starting the Ohio 3 Read-through/Revision

    Okay. I have the manuscript printed out. I did some brainstorming in the shower on how I can save as much of what I remember of the story as possible WITHOUT breaking what I did in the first two books, or the last two. Worst case, I’ll end up writing a completely new novel. That’s…

  • Ohio 2 Revision: To page 398 of 431

    Ohio 2 Revision: To page 398 of 431

    Pretty decent day. This part of the book took significant reworking, and I’m betting this is going to be one of the places where my editor finds out I struggled a bit. But I love what I finally ended up with.  And I stand a pretty good chance of finishing the revision on Monday. I…

  • Revised Ohio 2 through page 369 — and very happy with my progress.

    Revised Ohio 2 through page 369 — and very happy with my progress.

    Today was one of the weirder parts of Book 2, and it’s been a while since I’ve seen it. I was afraid it might not hold up. But it did. I found myself laughing in the right places, and getting choked up in the right places, and while there were some story issues I had…

  • Catching up on the updates: Starting at page 291 on the Ohio 2 revision

    Catching up on the updates: Starting at page 291 on the Ohio 2 revision

    The last couple days have been hectic, and I’ve managed to miss blogging twice. But I’ve gotten my revision pages every day. This morning, I’m starting the write-in revision on page 291. The last page in the novel is 431. I won’t get there today, but I’ll make good headway toward getting there, and might…

  • To manuscript page 228 on the type-in

    To manuscript page 228 on the type-in

    Today was tough. I had a LOT of hand-written stuff that had to be typed in, and a number of existing pages that had to be either heavily re-written or deleted entirely. Writing-wise, it was a good day, in that I love this story and the way all the pieces are coming together. But it…

  • 74 pages of revision progress on Ohio 2

    74 pages of revision progress on Ohio 2

    The words went really well. Don’t know how many I added today — but it was a fair number. And I like what I got. I’m very grateful I’ve got a weekend starting, though. I’m tired, and I’ll be grateful for two days of when I don’t have to do anything writing-related.

  • OHIO 2 REVISION: Made it to manuscript page 134 of the Ohio 2 type-in.

    OHIO 2 REVISION: Made it to manuscript page 134 of the Ohio 2 type-in.

    And in this particular set of chapters, I’ve managed to make myself cry a couple of times. The fixes in this section have been mostly small (typos, spellos, extra spaces), and the couple of bigger changes let me add a bit more emotion to the terrible thing that my main character is discovering. It was…

  • Some days go more smoothly than others. Ohio Two Revision

    Some days go more smoothly than others. Ohio Two Revision

    This is such a weird job. Going through the type-in revision of Book Two this morning, I both laughed my ass off and then cried typing in the same scene. That particular LONG scene, now revised, held up pretty well from when I wrote Ohio 2, though I had a couple of complex fixes due…