Sunday, September 4, 2011

Countdown -29 Days (The "B" Beta Deadline)

It is done!  The first draft of "B" is done.  And, holy cannoli, this beast is long.   It clocks in at 159,206 words, 412 single spaced pages (or approximately 800 double spaced pages), and 42 chapters.

I expect to chop a bit as I go through edits.  I made lots of notes of wordy and awkward phrasing I knew I'd need to go back and fix after I got the story fleshed out through completion.  However, I also remember noting a few places where I'd need to expand a description or explanation of some location, object, or concept of significant importance.  Still, overall, I'm hoping to lose pages rather than add to the page count, by time I send it out to beta readers.

But before I even tackle the great task of the first round of self-edits, I need to give my brain a good cleansing of this story.  To do that, I will take myself away from writing completely for at least one day.  Perhaps, I will work on graphics, go on some outings with my decadent hubby, or even spend time with a friend.  These days, socializing seems almost a frightening alien concept to this homebody.  After the absenteeism from writing, I will pull out a new or different story to work on for at least another couple of days.  Once I am ingrained in that one, I will then go back to "B," dust it off, compile a list of all my in-story notes, and set to enacting them.  

Then I go back to writing the alternate story again.

Then I read through "B," proofreading, and making even more notes as needed.

Then I go back to the alternate story a third time.

Then I reread "B" a second time.

And, if no major problems present themselves, I will start submitting to beta readers for their opinions, corrections, and suggestions.

Factoring in the length of "B" at this juncture, I estimate (hope) this process will take a week or two to reach.  It will thus mean I am about six weeks behind schedule on it.

But hey, late or not, just getting this far is a major accomplishment, in my not so humble opinion.

And on the heels of the splendiferous (shh, I know that's not a real word; I'm being silly) release of the somewhat weird and wacky, but absolutely fun, flash-fiction anthology, Pink Snowbunnies In Hell, which includes my story The Recession Is Hell.

And on that note, as well as the realization that it is freaking four in the morning, I bid you all adieu for the evening... morning... something like that.

Thank you for indulging... (me).

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