Introduction to the Accountability Post 2021 Week 35
In a little under a month and a half, Book 1: 61 Cygni goes in for a developmental edit. I found the editor on Reedsy, and I’m excited to see what he thinks of the manuscript. I have to make a decision soon: Do I rewrite the book one more time? Or should I wait until I get feedback? The reason I need to make the decision soon is that it will take at least one week and probably two to perform the rewrite.
Until I make that decision, though, I’m still working on Book 2: Epsilon Eridani. Let’s take a look at my progress this week.
Accountability Post 2021 Week 35 By the Numbers
The week before, I had written 6,972 words to push the total to 70,622. Here’s how things looked last week:
Even at this point in the manuscript, I’m still building sets and researching sites!
That means that last week, I wrote 8,953 words to take the total to 79,575 words. That’s an improvement over last week! I also had fewer sets to design and characters to work up, so I’m glad to see the word count increased proportionately.
The characters continue to interact well. They’re pushing the plot forward. The dialogue feels right. I have to say that Samuel Beauregard’s dialogue in particular just flows. It’s weird, because while I had the general personality type in mind, I didn’t really plan for him to speak this way. I hope anyone who reads it enjoys it!
All in all, a very boring week of writing and moving the story forward. I wouldn’t mind a few more weeks like that!
Scorecard: Goals
Previous Week’s Goals
Here’re my goals from last week and indicators of how I fared:
- Finish Helmine Stein’s Pinch 1: Done!
- Finish Atticus Porter’s Pinch 1: Done!
- Start Liam Martin’s Pinch 1: Done!
I surprised myself. I did not think I’d finish Liam Martin’s Pinch 1. But he, Colonel Mamani, and Beauregard pulled together and made it happen! I also cast a new character, Colonel Farook Rocha, who commands the UN forces in Uruguay. I find real actors to help me visualize each character. For Colonel Rocha, I picked Gustavo Rojo. His career looked amazing, and he projected such a palpable air of distinguished strength that I felt like I needed to fashion Colonel Rocha to live up to those standards!
As I researched the military traditions in Uruguay this week, and in Bolivia and Peru and other South American countries in previous weeks, I also became aware of the depth and richness of their traditions. They really impressed me! Add learning about stuff like that to the list of reasons I love world-building!
Next Week’s Goals
Checking my handy plot braiding worksheet, here’s what I plan to attack this week:
- Finish Jack Booth’s Midpoint
- Finish Melchizedek Conrad’s Midpoint
- Start Atticus Porter’s Midpoint
There’s been a development on Porter’s plantation that, given my reviews of anime series, I need to be careful with. I think it has a realistic path forward, but if I let the anime part of my brain have too much influence, it could feel too much like a spoof. And I don’t want that!
What Do You Think?
How you hired a developmental editor before? Or, if you’ve been down the path of the traditional publisher, what’s your impression of their in-house editors? Please feel free to share in the comments!
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