Paksworld

It took longer than it should have, thanks to getting sick (at which point my brain goes duuhhhhhhh… and can’t see the sense in a sentence) but Editor Revisions are second-run done.  Now to see if Editor agrees with what I’ve done with what she did.

I would like to blame the extreme haste of my own revisions at the end of the year for some of the things Editor found.   Among my Bad Tendencies, the one Editor particularly jumps on is repetition of the same information…Editor thinks readers are smart enough to remember or turn back a chapter if they don’t.    Editor is right, of course.  But in first draft, when I haven’t yet decided for sure who gets to carry that ball, I hand it to several  to see who carries it best.

In Editor’s determination not to allow Boring Repetition, Editor missed some of what I consider absolutely necessary character bits and small plot hooks.   So I’ve retained those.  In some cases, put them somewhere nearby their original location; in other cases, have simply shortened the scene drastically.   Crisis of Vision has now shrunk by roughly 8ooo words.  Again.  Maybe more (the undulation of more words/fewer words/more words/fewer words occurs, though less largely, during any revision process.)  Its present length is just under 165,000 words.   (I swear to you, you will not miss most of those 8000 words, and I’ve saved some juicy bits for snippets and side stories later on.)

Meanwhile,  as I neared the end of revisions, I could press on a bit with Book IV, with the result that today, for the first time, I’m ahead (by 34 words) of Alex (“Barbaro”.)    However, Terie (“Secretariat”) is right behind me, and both Alex and Terie are capable of writing as fast as I can at my best.  If you want to see “Desert Orchid” as leader, best check out the results today.    (For those unfamiliar with this race, the words are those written in February with a goal of 30,000.  Those whose goals were less have their actual words adjusted so they’re still in the same race.   So those with short goals have an advantage over those who went for the whole enchilada.)

We are actually planning to see a movie this afternoon since I finished the revisions.  This will be the first movie I’ve seen in…um…at least a year, maybe two.  Or more.