I've finished editing chapters 1 and 2 in Book 3 now. Hooray! I'm on to chapter 3. The editing is going well, but it's difficult. For one thing, Book 3 three is the most personal in the series. This book is truly the story I want to tell. I'm not obsessing over proper structure, dialogue tags, adverbs, or any of that stuff. This is me just expressing my setting and characters. As a result, changing anything is tough because I love every word so much!
Second, editing is more difficult because Book 2 flowed so easily. The amount of time it took me to actually write Book 2 was less than half of Book 1. I never got stuck, never got discouraged. It just came out of me, and it fits the strictures of storytelling perfectly. Of all the books in the series, I think The Huntsman and the Vampire will be the best as far as nailing proper writing techniques go. Not only that, it required very little editing. Mainly just proofreading. So, as I go through Book 3, it is a bit discouraging to see so much work that needs to be done.
Mild Spoilers Ahead!
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Let me give you an example. In Chapter 2 of Book 3, there is a battle. I remember writing this scene. I was just starting out and I was rusty from taking off from writing to deal with publishing. The battle wasn't all that vivid or dynamic. In fact, I would say the action was quite confused.
Fixing that took me all of Friday and most of the weekend. And here's the thing, I'm going to have to give it another pass. It's still night right.
By contrast, every battle that you read in THATV is pretty much exactly how I wrote it originally. In fact, I can't think of a single major occurrence in any of those battles that wasn't in the first draft.
Book 3 will be different. It's going to take a while to get it into shape. That's fine. I like revising. I know what I have to do. Now, I just have to do it. And in the end, the book will be better as a result of the tough choices and sacrifices I make now.
Peace,
-Troy
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