Editing is a labour of love

Editing is a labour of  love.

Here is a tip, once you have finished your first draft – go online or enrol yourself in a workshop and learn about symbolism, themes, developing characters etc. If you are anything like me don’t do this before your first draft- why? Because you need to get the bare bones of your story down first. So this is where I am with ‘the book club’– Let me give you an update.

I completed my first draft and I have emailed it out to a friend, a mother in law and printed a copy for my own mother and husband. I have specifically asked them to see if the plots/sub plots work, if there is pace, if the characters are believable. Lets see what they come back with. In the interim I am slowly plodding through the first draft and making many changes! Practicing what I preach I have been scouring sites for tips on how to improve my writing and as I go through the book I am showing more, not just telling and adding a whole myriad of symbolism. Editing is a labour of love! I am up to 72,000 words already and just past chapter two- which incidentally has turned into chapter five. The chapters were way too long and reading The Lantern reminded me that I much prefer short snappy chapters.

I am excited about the Book Club, not the name though. Its terrible and I still cant come up with something better. Speaking of the lantern I can confirm that I have finished it. In less than a week. The book was easy to read and you did kind of get lost in Provence. I thoroughly recommend it. It is not an eye opener, you probably wont race to the finish. It’s like a nice long drink of hot chocolate and you are a bit sad when it ends. It is somewhat a comforting book – it definitely provides a bit of escapism.

I am getting through the books, my next one is House of the hanged by Mark Mills, he also wrote savage Garden one of my favourite books- It made me want to book a one way ticket to Tuscany. Lets see what House of the Hanged is like it definitely sounds intriguing. That’s what I need an intriguing title!