Beautiful Books #3

So, this week is the third and final Beautiful Books link-up, hosted by Cait and Sky. And this week is all about…dun dun duuuun….editing! My very favorite thing //she says sarcastically. If you’ve been hanging around this blog for any length of time, you’ll know that editing is my least favorite part of the writing process, which naturally means it’s also the longest part of the writing process. YAY FOR ME.

• On a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best), how did the book turn out? Did anything defy your expectations?

I’ll say it’s around a 6 or so. Way better than I did last year, but not amazingly better.

• Comparative title time: what published books, movies, or TV shows are like your book? (Ex: Inkheart meets X-Men.)

Peter Pan meets Half Bad? Yeah, that’ll work.

• Do you enjoy working with deadlines and pressure (aka NaNoWriMo)? Or do you prefer to write-as-you’re-inspired?

I like writing with deadlines, because without the pressure I never finish a novel. The pressure in NaNoWriMo is a good thing.

• How do you go about editing? Give us an insight into your editing process.

There’s an embarrassing amount of crying involved. Seriously. But first, I tend to go through and change the little details first (You know, a character saying they’re fourteen when they’re really fifteen), and once I’ve done that, I batten down the hatches and fall headfirst into the big rewrite. And I do that several times in a row.

• What aspect of your story needs the most work?

Can I answer all of it? If not…I think the beginning/beginning of the middle.

• What aspect of your story did you love the most?

The last four chapters. They manage to be dark yet funny at the same time and I am very proud of myself for that.

• Give us a brief run down on your main characters and how you think they turned out. Do you think they’ll need changes in edits?

Maisie feels slightly flat; so she does need some changes. Wasp seems good, as does Julian and Nadia and Lionel. I love my pirates, but not my MC, apparently.

• What are your plans for this novel once you finish editing? More edits? Finding beta readers? Querying? Self-publishing? Hiding it in a dark hole forever?

Honestly? Depends on how the edits go.

• Share a favourite snippet!

My favorite snippets involve lots of explaining, so I’m going with this one.

We stared down at the bird, and Wasp said, “I think it’s dead.” She nudged it with her foot. The duck twitched.

“I think it’s mostly dead,” Julian said unhelpfully, and Nadia punched him. He winced theatrically and rubbed his arm. Wasp rolled her eyes. “We need a live duck, and instead we get this dead-“

“Mostly dead!”

“-this mostly dead duck.”

I blinked at them. “You know, this has to be one of the weirdest conversations I’ve ever had.”

Nadia flashed me a rare smile. “Get used to it then, Mainlander. We have a lot of ’em.”

“Mostly dead ducks?”

“Shut up, Julian!”

This snippet takes some explaining too, now that I think of it.

• What are your writing goals and plans for 2016?

I want to write at least TWO novels, and edit as least one of them, as well as get beta readers for it. I know I’m going to be starting outlining an idea later this month, so hopefully it works out well.

And, ta da! This concludes my adventure with Beautiful Books (at least until next November).

So! Tell me, blogglings, how did your NaNoWriMo go? Are you planning on editing it or letting it rot in some deep dark hole somewhere?

Happy Monday,