This week has been jammed with editing the thriller book 2. It capped off at 95,000 words last week, which was disappointing, but as often happens I have found the word count to bloom a little as I edit.
Why? Well, it seems to be a habit of mine that I race ahead a little in writing – which means some important details of setting get slightly left behind. Sometimes I don’t explain concepts or bits of logistical plotting quite clearly enough. When I do the first ironing pass I catch these and fill them out.
It can lead to a few hundred words extra per chapter, which has pushed the count to 98,500 already! I’m a little ove rhalfway edited. Today I have to do a pretty big cut though – a section that is far too dense with technobabble about hacking. I realize I love this kind of writing – digging deep into terminology and piling unfamiliar terms one atop another – but I can see it’s little fun to read. Definitely not in sync with the rest of the tone.
So maybe lose 1,000 words. I’ll try to add it back on and keep reaching for 100,000!
So, the full update on thriller book 2:
- Word count: 98,500, up by 6,000 from 1 week ago. Around 1,000 words a day, all in dribs and drabs across many chapters.
Agent update:
Same old same old. When I see a rejection now, it makes me not disappointed but a little angry. The fools!!
Plans: The Rot’s War comes out in audio on Dec 18, 4 days time! I have the Fantasy Finds podcast on Dec 20. I have an International Bookbub for The Saint’s Rise on Jan 10. Hopefully success with that will lead to a much more valuable US Bookbub.