This week I’ve been working on The Lotus Leaf Effect. I’ve changed some basics about the story and have reworked the first nine chapters. I’ve deleted about 10 pages and have added back six or so of new dialogue and storyline for a net loss of four pages. (It’s like trying to lose weight. I was down eight pages at one point–then suddenly I’d gained four of those back!)
I know I need to keep paring it down, but my plan is to rework the threads I’m changing and then come back to hack at it as a whole. My goal is to have a new draft by early November.
Last week I was reading a blog about some of the things editors don’t like to see in a manuscript. Number 2 was a character looking in the mirror in order to give the reader a description of that character’s appearance. Oops. Revised that, too.
So much to learn!