I am thrilled with where my book is going. I’m almost to the halfway point! I’m a little over 35,000 words in (and aiming for 80,000). Being directly in the middle usually causes me a lot of grief with books, but this time is different.
There’s a warning among the writing community about “squishy middles” where nothing really happens and you’re very susceptible to bloating of the plot. While rewriting and revising I’m amazed that I have a fantastic sense of where I’m going and what I want the tension to be throughout the middle. I think it has a lot to do with the two drafts that didn’t work very well. Part of it might also be because I took the time to go through each and every scene to tell myself what the intention was, if it hit that intention, and what it would need to have in order to succeed.
Was it a huge spreadsheet? Yes. Was it the most helpful thing I did throughout the revision process? Yeah…yeah. If you are revising a book…take the time to go through each scene BEFORE you start trying to fix things. It helps. It really helps.
Otherwise, I’m finding little joys to get me through some tough days. Flowers that I got to take home from a family party, my doggo having mostly good behavior most days, and soaking in the good weather outside.
Happy Writing!
Rachel
Subtle Stories 