Since this is the first post about my first novel, I need to catch you up. I completed the NaNoWriMo challenge back in 2010 (as well as 2017, but that’s another story. Literally.). My first draft of Zombie Love clocked in at 51870 words. Within a year, I completed the second draft at 56884 words.

I set editing aside to deal with health and family issues and hadn’t found time to get back to it until January of this year. Honestly though, I think it was for the best. I have been able to be much more ruthless in this run-through of editing. It’s been taking me between 30 minutes to an hour to edit a single page, but the more I edit, the faster that is getting.

I’m currently on page 27 (of 138) and my current word count is 59522. It’s been a lot of fun going back through my first novel; the story is still making me laugh, and my plot line is surprisingly solid. I’m focusing on the SHOW DON’T TELL aspect that seems to pop up again and again when reading about editing. Mostly, this means fleshing out the characters, setting, and minor action.

A few other quirks I’ve found – since I initially wrote the story back in 2010, I’ve actually had some of the technology become outdated. It’s amazing how fast tech moves! Since I had to update, I actually needed to write a few scenes completely over so that they are more realistic. I’ve also found that my supporting characters have been a bit flat, so it’s been enjoyable fleshing them out. Even supporting cast needs dimensions (even if it is a horror spoof)!

So why start my writer blog, twitter, facebook, and instagram before I’ve even finished editing? After reading the book Platform, I was sold. In order to market anything, you need a base, and your base will grow only with time and effort. Start your platform when you have a published book and you’re already behind.

Hopefully this blog, which will chronicle my writing, editing, and publishing process, will take you through the process as I work it out. Along the way, I’ll be adding writing challenges, short stories, poetry, and novel excerpts, because what would a creative writer’s blog be without actual creative writing?