Four days to go (where has the time gone?) and I'm down to the final two chapters on my third draft.I've cut a mighty 83.000 words and am now reaching my desired 120.000. That means basically that I still need to shave off 20.000 words for it to be considered 'publishable'. Still, I have good hopes for the magic threshold of acceptance (that 100K) as well as a good starting point for a professional editor to dig into. I found that that the cuts I've made so far truly were for 80% superfluous crap; stuff I could have reworded differently from the start (how much we learn...) or events, characters and dialog that simply didn't add anything. One of my favorite writing mistakes was: 'Simon started to ...' whereas really I should just say 'Simon '. Another favorite was including words like 'basically/in fact/suddenly/really and now' where I could easily leave them out and just come to the point. The other 20% is useful material I might use in future books.
In this way, editing has taught me how to also be more concise when I talk to people. I now come more directly to the point, where formerly I would try to include every possible safeguard to a misunderstanding. If this book never gets published (in a traditional manner, because I'll otherwise publish it myself for an e-reader audience) then at least I can say I really enjoyed the whole process. I learned so much about myself and how to communicate simply by plotting, writing and editing for five years consistently. In fact, I'm half a mind to list the year of 'non-IT-work' as 'Communication Enhancement Training'. Heh, heh - that's a little nugget I picked up by the way from Zuul, the main villain in the book, who after a lifetime of being a CEO has a speech impediment: he is incapable of talking in anything else than business lingo.
And that brings me to this: I have contacted a nice number of agents in the field and have listed this blog as a reference (my only 'published' experience in writing). I've explained before and to my friends and family that the way I talk in this blog does not reflect my fiction style in the book. I realize I do have a tendency in choosing rare words over simple ones when I'm blogging and I'm sure it has to do with the fact that this blog really is my online therapy. It's my valve for releasing my brain farts while I write Simon & Sally. I guess the only reason I can give for it is that I don't really have anyone socially to talk philosophy with (and the book is obviously not an appropriate forum either). So this blog remains really for me, while the book is for all those kids (big and small) in the world who enjoy a good story.
Finally, I'll be off for Christmas to the States to celebrate the cozy times (and snow!) with loved ones. When I come back I'm going to start looking for IT work again, while the book is being shopped around for enthusiastic representation. I'll keep you up to date on that progress - and the evening work on Book 2, which I'm eager to start plotting.
Happy Holidays everyone!
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