One Chapter to go

Sunday I turned in chapter 18 of book three to the critique group. Three ships battle it out with torpedoes, cannons, and small arms fire. While the heroine is trapped on a barge in the middle of the fighting with the enemy spy.

I kept three fights going at once while the heroine tries to save her lovers who is hanging below the barge in a bathysphere. It’s not easy keeping three story lines (that are happening at the same time) going and not confuse the reader.

Now all I have to do is write the Falling Action, The Resolution, and The Denouement and wrap up a bunch of lose ends. On paper that sounds like more work and writing than what I did for the second act of the book.

Of course as I wrote chapter 18 my outline went to pieces. I have to redo the outline of chapter 19, big time.

Word count is good, but way low. I have to go through several edits and a rewrite which will add words. Then it’s off to the Beta Readers. After the clean up using the Beta Readers comments I turn it in to the editor.

That brings up a big problem. I’m still working on the editing of the second book. Writing new stuff is more fun than editing. How many time do I have to read the same thing again? Is the edit making it better?

The big problem is I will now go for weeks without new material to submit to the critique group. I could give them edited material but they will get as tired of reading the same (but improved) stuff over and over.

The biggest problem is editing and rewriting take three times as long as writing the book in the first place.

Stay Strong, Write On (you heard it here first)   Professor Hyram Voltage.