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Friday, February 3, 2012

Word Count: Six Months Later

Yesterday I finished the revision of my 117,000 word novel Only The Lonely based on Tanya Reimer's comments on reading the entire book.

I've trimmed the book down to about 81,000 words by eliminating some of the subplots. I consider my work on the book about 95% complete. I rewrote some chapters, added a few new ones, and combined some chapters. The 5% of the work I have left to do is polishing the revisions, possibly adding one small element, and making sure the book flows properly. Hopefully, I can get that done this month. Then it's on to self-publishing the book.

I need to come up with a book cover. The one I have works, but I may look into doing something different. I'm undecided.


The subplots I eliminated are not lost or wasted effort. They will be the basis of, or part of, one or two sequels I have planned.

15 comments:

KamilleE said...

It's nice that you're not throwing ideas away!

woah! 117,000 words is a hell of a lot! Congrats on all that revisioning and editing! Must have been brutal!

Anonymous said...

You're almost there. Hooray! And I like this cover VERY much. It's simplicity is eye catching. I like it better than any "busier" cover I've seen.
Ann Best, Author of In the Mirror & Other Memoirs

Anonymous said...

p.s. Thanks for featuring Imprisoned. I've discovered that self-publishing is very difficult.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Richard .. congratulations on getting where you've got to and realising that you can utilise your left-overs for the next books - sounds a good idea.

I couldn't imagine what it'd be like to write a whole book .. and then revise it .. etc ...

Cheers and good luck with the rest .. Hilary

Nancy Thompson said...

Great job! That's remarkable progress!!

Unknown said...

Congrats on finishing your edits. I'm sure it's a wonderful read.

As to the cover: I just love it! It's simple and yet powerful.

Anonymous said...

Congrats! on the milestone. And like you stated these edited subplots can form the basis of your next book(s). I have JUNKYARD that I keep lots of edited stuff that I can plug and play at a later date.

And thanks for stopping by Hilary's blog. It's great to meet you.

Anonymous said...

Nice! I'm glad to hear you survived the revision process!

Tanya Reimer said...

Oh my gosh! You're doing so awesome, it's going super fast. I wish my revisions were that quick! Yipee! Can't wait to see the magic you made.

And yeah, that cover really does it justice.

Juliana L. Brandt said...

Great job on editing down that word count! That's impressive and not an easy feat.

I think that cover is absolutely lovely. I'm drawn in.

Deb Shucka said...

What wonderful progress you're making! I like the book cover - it's very compelling.

Emily R. King said...

Good work, Richard! I like the book cover. Simple is always better for me.

Unknown said...

I love that you're able to do something constructive with subplots you take out. I am HORRIBLE at editing my own stuff ... it's like maiming my children or something. And I'm very bad at taking criticism (although I've gotten much better since I've become serious about getting published). The idea of taking pieces out with the thought of using them later would definitely make it more palatable for me ... thanks for the idea :-) And I LOVE the cover!!!! Hope all is well, my friend :-)

Peggy Eddleman said...

Congrats on being so close, and on making painful choices to remove sub-plots! I'm glad they won't be wasted. Best of luck with everything! I'm excited for you!

Mark said...

Wow, sounds like you've put a lot of work into editing your manuscript. Well done!