Monday 20th November 2017

I always have such ambitious plans.
I look at my week off and say I want to get the entire book edited in that time.  I sit down and calculate how many chapters that is a day, and remind myself that this is just a structural edit.  Given that I’ve learnt a lot since the first book, and planned it meticulously, there’s shouldn’t be much at this stage that needs changing – just some secondary character work.  And it’s not like I can’t do a more detailed structural edits if it does go to my beta and comes back with a lot of comments.
No, this is a very light edit.  I don’t need to get weighed down by details.  I just need to have something I can give to Kate so she can point out any high level issues.
So you’d think that 6 chapters a day is achievable.  Challenging, possibly, but still achievable.
And yet, I still seem to get bogged down by details.  I get to points where I know something is wrong and then stall as I figure out what I need to do.
On one hand, I like that I care.  I like that I’ll take the time to do it properly, that there are absolutely no shortcuts.  I will do what is absolutely necessary.
But then there’s that fear – the fear I’m being slow.  I should have book 2 edited and with my beta right now.  I should be plotting book 3.
I’m not sure if it’s just the time we’ve taken on book 1 that makes me feel that I’m being slow or whether I’m a little afraid of the yearly deadlines that publishing would hold me to.  I’m not sure why, though.  Given my productivity, a book a year is easy.
Perhaps, it’s that I worry that every book will need as much work as Black as Knight and fitting 16 drafts inside a year would be impossible.
Of course, this ignores the fact I’ve levelled up, that I’m no longer making the same mistakes… which brings me back to the frustration of why I’m unable to light edit 6 chapters in a day.
I tell myself that I need to enjoy the process rather than worry about the destination.  Book 2 is seeming pretty solid.  Certainly not perfect but for this stage of its development it certainly is doing everything it needs to be doing.
I like that the characters have been allowed to grow.  It certainly feels like its own book, not trying to copy the first book whilst trying to hit all those key signatures that readers have loved.
I worry that there’s too much dark and not enough light in the story but reading it back it does seem to have a nice balance.
Of course, the real test will be when Kate gets her hand on it and starts ripping it apart.  Which, of course, will be when I finish the edits… which currently doesn’t look like it will be this week.
I keep telling myself this is fine.  I’m making progress and not cutting corners.  Any thoughts about  imaginary deadlines for myself are a distraction.
If you want to follow more of my journey, then be sure to check me on my social channels.  Likewise, if you’d like me to expand on any point mentioned above, please say so in the comments.

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