So, How's It Going?

Just to provide readers with an update on how the editing process is coming along. It's coming slowly.

The trouble is, I'm fairly honest and realistic about my writing. It's a fact that the start of this book is better than the ending. I'm trying to unpick why and change it accordingly.

One thing I didn't like was that my female protag was asking too many questions of my male protag. It was as if she couldn't make a decision on her own.

I changed that pronto.

Then there are other elements, like little asides that give the tone of my writing in the first half of the book but fall to the wayside in the second half. They needed to be added in for that extra perspective.

And then, once I've edited a section of text, if I flick back to that page for any reason I spot more imperfections that either I missed or are caused by the edits I've made.

But, I think there are always going to be little things I pick up on. Sometimes I change which protag said what depending on the situation and the message I want to give about that protag.

During my edits, I've also added a bit more foreshadowing. Lots of, 'Lexi wondered if she'd ever [do that] again.' I'm trying to add a few more mentions of the Moon, etc.

I have been told that an author can't edit their own work. I have spotted a few spelling mistakes or where I haven't

capitalised the start of a sentence or a name, for example. I've restructured some scenes, I'm writing new scenes as one of the locations in my book appears from nowhere. Now it appears earlier in the book and isn't quite so convenient. I also purposely excluded a scene from the book but now I think it really needs to be in as an event happens suddenly. There is foreshadowing for it, but I don't think that's enough. I think the reader may need to just see it.

I have also deleted any unnecessary telling and replaced it with showing, however it is a children's book so there needs to be a certain type of telling which also shows.

If I can get my editing done by the end of the week, hopefully I can get the manuscript to beta readers. It'll be good to step back from writing for a little while during the beta reads. I may even carry on with my cross stitch!

Wish me luck!