Writing Partner: Dragging this out – part 2

For part 1 click here.

When we last spoke, I was working away on my editing and painting baby dragons. I only mentioned one, but I wanted to test out two paint schemes for the mother dragon. I wanted pink to be the contrasting color, but I wasn’t sure if the primary color should be black or white.

Here are the results of my testing:

While I like the white scheme better, I’m happy I painted the black one too. I think it is a fun miniature, and having both has gotten the wheels in my head turning. I now have an excellent premise for a multipart RPG session, but I’ll get into that more when I finish their mother.

In the meantime, I have more editing to do. That October deadline is fast approaching, and I have only just gotten into act 3. To get another draft finished in the next 5 months will be hard, but it looks to be doable. But after that, I’m done, and we can start talking about a new book!

Something I am noticing about my editing is I am adding in sensory descriptions naturally now. This is something I had to really work at. As a recap to any new readers, I spent about 5 years writing scripts before starting this blog. I’m a dialogue guy, and learning to write proper narration on the first draft was like pulling teeth. This process has made me a better writer and, fingers crossed, a faster one.

Today alone, I added 3 pages of new content while editing. This draft has added 25 pages so far, and I still have 10 chapters to edit. I’ve gone from having a short novel to having a pretty respectable one since Christmas. I’m pretty pleased with that.

Here’s hoping this newfound ease for narration carries into the next novel. If I can get a first draft done in November, it won’t take long before I have a second novel finished and ready for readers if it’s at my current standard. My short story collection is nearing 100 pages, and I have a half-finished book on the back burner as well. I could have a decent selection available to read relatively soon.

Fingers crossed, I stay on track. I could also get distracted by a new project!