Hello Magic Seekers! I’m checking in with my current word count and State of the Novel update, as promised.
I’ve been writing away, and I am pleased to tell you that I am at 93,907 words, or at 78% complete on the first draft. My base goal is 120,000 words, give or take. Just for comparison, In Sleep You Know came in originally over 127,000 words and I trimmed it down to about 125,000.
The task of getting the word count under control happens during the editing and revision process, which is coming SOON for me! I’ve found that once I get close to the end of the story, things start speeding up and before I know it, I’ll be blasting through the action like I’m riding a speeding bobsled to reach the conclusion. It’s always a wild ride!
After that, I’ll take a small break to let the story rest and to give myself some space and fresh perspective. After I’m ready to dive back into the story, it’s time to re-read and start looking over the plot to see what should be tightened up, moved around, or deleted. Some things may be added, like extra scenes or observations, things that will stitch the subplots together with the main plot seamlessly – that is, if I do it right! In this time frame, I’ll also have some trusted beta readers look over the story and let me know what they think and if there’s anything I’m missing.
Next up is all the line editing and proofreading, first by myself, then by a professional. This is really when my hands start to come off the reins, and the pros take over to make sure that the finished product will be the best that it can be. My job changes at this point, and I will start concentrating on things like writing my back cover blurb and elevator pitch and all those good things that will help my book get into the hands of readers.
But enough about that! Want to see some fun character avatars I threw together via Picrew? They aren’t perfect, because I had to work with the limitations of what Picrew offers, but they are adorable.
The Fae as Comic Style Avatars
Aisling 
Tully 
Morgance of The Ladies 
Camlin 
Karsten 
Merrick 
Lucee 
Vali 
Sousa 
Cullen
Like I said, not quite perfect – for one, I couldn’t do green hair for The Ladies! But hopefully you can see the spirit of the Eleriannan, Gwyliannan, and Mortals in these cute comical avatars!
Check back in next month for the next update, Magic Seekers!
