drafting after a break
How GORGEOUS is this fan art from my sister for THE BALLAD OF NEVER AFTER?! I love it so much.
Speaking of...that book DESTROYED ME but in the absolute best possible way. Without any doubt this is Stephanie Garber's best book. I'm not sure how I'll make it a year?! until the next one, but I truly can't wait to see where this series continues.
In other big pieces of news, I took a two week NIGHT SOIREE hiatus. Not so much from feeling burnt out, but needing to step away for a bit and try to come into this next draft with fresh eyes and ideas. But, while I was on a break, I tried to read as much as I could and that included a re-read of ONCE UPON A BROKEN HEART (a must), GALLANT, THE BALLAD OF NEVER AFTER and CARAVAL. So primarily I immersed myself in Stephanie Garber's magic, hoping I could channel it into my own work in some way (also GALLANT was very very good, super quick read and perfect for fall). While I was reading a lot, I tried to soak up the last bits of summer with a few more jumps and swimming in Lake Michigan, and I FINALLY got my straddle press to handstand!!!!!! I've been chasing it for over two years and kinda thought maybe it wouldn't click, but at last IT DID and was the absolute best way to spend a writing break.
SO, now that I'm back for a few final pass throughs and edits before beta readers rip out my soul, I thought I'd share how I'm approaching the changes that need to be made:
I made a new outline based solely on the items I highlighted as YELLOW on my last outline, which means things I still need to do and look at. My last revision outline was massive and huge, so it's helping me to see a more focused, cleaned up version.
I think Stephanie garber writes the most interesting characters and world I could literally spend 800 pages in, so I'm thinking about how to really make all of my characters INTERESTING in their own ways with quirks that are really specific to them. I'm also trying to ensure that the map I have of this world in my head is shining and that each place we spend time in is rich and lush.
Thinking less about plot holes now that a lot of those have been filled, and more about what the world surrounding NIGHT SOIREE is up to and how it'll be affected in another book in the series
That's really it for now, though I'm sure more things will pop up as I'm working through this. Let me know if you have any tips to share for getting through those later stage drafts?!
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