Hope you’re doing okay out there.
This week
This week, I finished the first draft of the eighth Fenchurch book. Came in quite short and had some major issues, but I’ve got a couple of days of bulk fixes to make before I tackle the revised edit. What’s happened with this book is the first half is pretty tight and polished, but the second half was all about making sure the plot worked. It kind of didn’t, so I’ve had to change a bit, including AHEM who the villain is.
Flying visit to London on Wednesday and Thursday to go through some location stuff, among other things. It’s incredibly important to visit locations you’re writing about. Soak up the space and OF COURSE look for other ways into parks where you have bodies dumped during the night. Idiot.
Working on it at a slower pace was good, as it kept me fresh and enthused about it, but also let me work on some other stuff. I’ve spent at least two hours a day focusing on business stuff, so ads and sales stats, etc. Working on longer term strategy things. Feels good to get that level of control and to watch things start to click into place. I’ve wasted a lot of money this year on some ad stuff, but I’ve learnt a lot from it, so it’s probably worth it.
Also, working on an idea I’m really in love with and, luckily, so is my agent. It’s a different way of approaching stories, very character-centric, but it’s definitely a way that could eliminate my issues with third acts. They’re always a nightmare, so hopefully this will tighten up the motivational issues.
Next week
I’ll get the issues fixed for Fenchurch 8, tightening the story and reducing fluff, ahead of a full week’s readthrough week after next.
More daily work on stats/ads, etc, but I think I’m getting a much stronger strategy. Trialling a few things here and there, but probably won’t be able to implement until December due to a book going into Prime Reading.
I want to develop the new idea, tentative title DEAD INSIDE. Already feeling like it’s got a lot going for it.
Could get Cullen & Bain back to line edit, which will be a few hours work, I HOPE.
Hope your week has been productive too.
Cheers,
Ed