Adventures in writing and editing

If you’ve read my last few posts, you  may get the impression that all I do is read a lot… So I thought I should give a quick update of where I’m at with my own writing/editing.

Shadows: I’m in the midst of an intensive line editing process with my wonderful and patient editor at Text. This process is all about tightening and polishing the prose and making this book as good as it can possibly be. It’s exciting – and challenging. (One day, I may post about my existential crisis over a poinciana tree…).

Book 2: I’m going back over the 70,000 words I’ve already got down, doing a bit of pre-emptive tightening (as per above) and will then keep pounding out the first draft. I’m hoping to have something to my small (but enthusiastic) reading group in a few months.

It’s probably not ideal to be jumping between the two books, but it’s actually helpful for characterisation (and plot tracking).

Slightly off-topic, I had a great moment yesterday on Book 2…  I was reading back over a chapter I hadn’t looked at for a few months. In it, one of my main characters disappears for a few hours (necessary for a plot development). But the whole time I’m reading it, I’m thinking ‘Crap, I don’t remember what he was supposed to be doing in that time he was gone…’ And I didn’t have any notes on it. But then I get to the next chapter, and discover the answer… and it works beautifully! Nice to know I knew what I was doing when I originally wrote that a few months ago…

Anyway, we’re still on track for Shadows to launch in June, and I’ll post regular updates as things progress.

0 Comments

  1. paulaweston says:

    Thanks Vladimir. 🙂

  2. Vladimir says:

    Best of luck with both books Paula.
    Also, be careful not to mislay more book characters. 🙂 …loved that.

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About Me

I’m the author of the Rephaim series and The Undercurrent.

For my day job, I’m a writer-journalist-professional communicator, where my writing involves a lot less profanity.

I grew up in regional South Australia and now live in the Scenic Rim with my husband and a retired greyhound.

If you’re interested in how I came to land a publishing deal, you can read the short version in this post from August 2011. There’s a longer version (in a guest post) here.

Paula Weston

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