Hey y’all!
It is the first week of June, which means that I should begin my second edits this week! Well I actually have a confession to make – I began my second edits last week.
You lieeeeeeeed!
I know, I’m a terrible person. But I was just too excited to dive back into my story. Anyway, I just wanted to update y’all on how edits are going and how long everything should end up taking.
Current Edits
At the moment I am working on the second draft. Which basically just means that I am working through all the information that is in the book. I’m deciding which things need some more description and which things need less description.
I’m doing these edits on paper, which seems to be better for me. I think my creativity flows better when I am looking at paper compared to looking at my computer screen. So I printed all 80 pages of my story out and put it in a massive binder with color-coded pens to do these edits.
This part of editing is actually a lot of fun! I get to reread the whole book and reintroduce myself to my characters again. I thought that edits would be incredibly boring or painful, but I was wrong. I do not enjoy reading all of my silly grammar and spelling mistakes, but other than that, editing is a blast!
Future Edits
After I am done with my second draft, I will type all of the changes I made (and possibly make new ones, lets be honest) into my story doc. Then I will begin the third draft, which is when I will make everything sound good and flow together. I’m not sure if I will end up editing for the third draft on paper or on the computer, but we will see when I begin.
After the third draft is done and my story is perfect, I will send it off to beta readers for them to remind me that my story is, in fact, not perfect.
In reality, beta readers are a great help to writers because they approach the story from a reader’s point of view. They will be able to tell me where I’m rushing the story, where it’s moving too slow, and where it’s flat out boring. They will also be able to tell me if my story makes any sense. So I will have a bunch of beta readers to help me.
After the beta readers comes the BIG edit. The final edit. The official this-is-how-my-story-is-gonna-be edit.
Yes, it is a big deal.
After I’m done with that edit, and I feel satisfied with my story, I will hit publish! Yay! The plan is to self-publish both of the books, but I might end up changing my mind later. We will see.
Note: I am still trying to decide if I will get a professional editor or not. There are multiple reasons for and against getting an editor, but I am slowly making my way towards a decision. If I do end up hiring an editor, the editor will look at my story while my beta readers are reading through my story.
Tentative Timeline
You must be wondering how long all these edits will take. I’ve got, like, four more edits to go through. Well, actually it’s two. But that’s still a whole lot.
I hope to be done with the second draft before the end of June. And then I really hope to be done with the third draft and have it out to beta readers by the middle~ish of July.
Big task. But I have nothing else on my to-do list this summer, so I feel like I will be able to get it done.
If I give it to beta readers by the middle of July, they will (hopefully) be able to get it back to me before school starts again. And if this happens, then I will be able to do my final edits throughout the fall semester.
I hope to have In Wildcat Hollow published by the beginning of December. That is a big wish, though, and there are a lot of things that will contribute to if that becomes true or not. It will be my junior year in high school, and I’m beginning dual credit classes. So I’m not sure how much free time I will have this academic year. But I will try my hardest to be a published author by December 2020.
Anyway, I just wanted to share with you all how my edits are going and what my plan is for the future. If you liked this post and want to hear more updates on my story, feel free to sign up for my newsletter. Thanks for stopping by!
Love y’all
Ari D.
Ari D. 