Day Ten

DAY TEN

(For My New Readers:)

I have faith that as you read this blog, reading the "behind-the-scenes" as it were, you not only enjoy the ride but maybe, just maybe become inspired to develop your own dreams.

You don't "guess" at the future - you create it!

(Today's Post:)

So I'm now at chapter three removing the "said's" from the dialogue. It's looking good and I'm very happy with my current progress.

My wife finished the editing of the second draft. I have to say I'm very encouraged. She is really good at watching a movie and within the first ten minutes tell you who did it, etc.

Much to my annoyance sometimes. Lol. I often try and prove her wrong but I end up being the one that was off the mark. :)

So I felt that when I embarked on this project that I wanted to create a story where she couldn't get ahead of it. I knew that if I could do that, I would have the novel that I was looking for.

And I think I have.

She told me that she loved it and she couldn't guess at the ending.

I'M ECSTATIC!

Now all I need to do is finish this draft and prepare for countdown. It's going to be a fun one as I move closer to launch.

Realizing what she said to me yesterday put me on cloud nine. I can really see this coming together and it's thrilling!

WOW!

Almost there. Whew...

I hope your day is going really well and I look forward to talking to you some more on Monday.

Mark

Day Nine

DAY NINE

(For My New Readers:)

It is my hope that as you read this blog, reading the "behind-the-scenes" as it were, you not only enjoy the ride but maybe, just maybe become inspired to follow your own dreams.

(Today's Post:)

So as I began working on chapter five, it dawned on me that I needed to create a list of words that were similar to "said". Once I realized that, I highlighted them in the entire manuscript and went to work.

Now I'm removing all of those words from dialogue and replacing them with content that describes it much better. I'm not worried about when it appears in description.

What I'm finding right away is that the storytelling is being elevated to the levels that are now surpassing  where it's been and I think my editor is going to be very happy. Lol.

It's coming together now in a huge way.

That tiny four letter word has been vexing me this whole time. There was no way I was going to publish the book with this challenge in it. No way.

Now, if I look at how the story has really developed I can see a novel that I'm very proud of. It is worthy of your readership.

However, I am going to say that because I am writing it. :)

I am confident that time will show that it favors the book reviewers. (Some of them might end up being you too. Lol.)

Once I catch up to where I left off in chapter five, I'll continue those changes in that section. Then it should go much easier. 

Wow, what an awesome day.

I hope you are having a great time too and I look forward to talking to you tomorrow.

Mark

Day Eight

DAY EIGHT

(For My New Readers:)

It is my hope that as you read this blog, reading the "behind-the-scenes" as it were, you not only enjoy the ride but maybe, just maybe become inspired to follow your own dreams.

(Today's Post:)

So the fourth chapter is done. Woohoo! Onto the fifth. That was quite the challenge but so worth it. 

I find now that I'm loving the structure of the story, when changes occur it becomes interesting to make those necessary transitions because the book no longer supports it. 

I'm halfway through making those "said" changes. Whew...

I'm sure I will have a few to look out for in the remainder but all in all, it is a good thing.

Anyway, today was very productive. I feel I went through a massive amount and have reached another "chapter" milestone.

It should only take a couple of days to go through the fifth section before moving to the next one. 

That is the hope. That I'm able to shift through this stuff quickly.

I hope today finds you well and I look forward to talking to you tomorrow.

Mark

Day Seven

DAY SEVEN

(For My New Readers:)

It is my hope that as you read this blog, reader the "behind-the-scenes" as it were, you not only enjoy the ride but maybe, just maybe become inspired to follow your own dreams.

(Today's Post:)

The changes that I needed to make are done. Now all that's left is to finish with the dialogue, which I should be able to complete that by tomorrow. 

It's looking much better I think. :)

Moving through this part of the novel was critical to correct. It's a small section but still needs the care and attention that everything deserves within the story.

Right now, the rest of it is looking really good. The changes are small in comparison to the last edit. 

I hope to be in the next section by Thursday. 

Remember of course I'm scrubbing grammar last, when all of this is done. At that stage I'll make sure the formatting is looking good too.

Anyway, I hope your day is going great. 

Talk with you some more tomorrow.

Mark

Day Six

DAY SIX

(For My New Readers:)

It is my hope that as you read this blog, reading the "behind-the-scenes" as it were, you not only enjoy the ride but maybe, just maybe become inspired to follow your own dreams.

(Today's Post:)

Well, I've begun the fourth chapter. It's actually going really well as I work through the changes that I need to do in this section. I should be completed with that by tomorrow and working to have the dialogue flow better.

Once that happens I should be ready to move to the next one. 

My wife has the last five chapters. I'm hoping she likes these and there is minimum changes to do so I can move through that with lightning speed. (We'll see. Lol.)

I want to take a moment to write about my feelings too.

Because this process is a lengthy one. Getting the book ready for publication is both exciting and frustrating. I know I want it in your hands but I don't want you to be disappointed either. This causes me to make sure that what I'm writing is the best I can (which I think I am) and it also take time.

It is thrilling to be becoming so near-at-hand to countdown. The light at the end of the tunnel edging ever closer. At this point I'm just wanting to get that going but I know I can't. I realize that if I do that I won't be serving the book in the best way. So it becomes frustrating. 

I just can't wait to be able to say "here it is! I hope you enjoy."

Anyway, I hope you have an incredible day and I look forward to talking to you some more tomorrow.

Mark

Day Five

DAY FIVE

(For My New Readers:)

It is my hope that as you read this blog, reading the "behind-the-scenes" as it were, you not only enjoy the ride but maybe, just maybe become inspired to follow your own dreams.

(Today's Post:)

Well, I couldn't get to submitting an entry yesterday because I found we were having some technical difficulties. (They aren't completely resolved yet but I am able to get this out.)

Anyway, I have moved through chapter three as far as I can for right now and I'm in the next section.

Feels great to be shifting through this stuff so quickly. The fourth one though is going to take some thought as I need to change the mood of a character. However, I know it's not going to be a major overhaul. I just want to take care as I go through this one. :)

I'm also learning more and more about marketing. It's amazing what that really can do, if done correctly.

Time will tell if I have it right.

I hope you have an incredible weekend and I'll talk to you some more on Monday. :)

Mark 

Day Four

DAY FOUR

(For My New Readers:)

It is my hope that as you read this blog, reading the "behind-the-scenes" as it were, you not only enjoy the ride but maybe, just maybe become inspired to follow your own dreams.

(Today's Post:)

Instead of having the title and the logline at the top, I'm going to do it a little different...

I like the message at the beginning, because it hopefully sets the tone of this whole blog into the perspective but I think I'm just repeating myself on the title and logline. :)

So, today I can report that I'm into chapter three. Good news of course and will be moving forward on Wednesday. 

I won't be able to post anything until Thursday because I have somethings to do for the next couple of days.

However, I will be able to do some work on Wednesday on the chapter. Editor's notes for sure. I will be also looking for duplicate words that I missed. I think I'll be able to get those done too.

Anyway, for right now I'm very happy to be moving forward. Once I get past chapter eight, the "said's" portion I won't need to change anymore, because I already did. This will help to speed things up a little.

I am going to change the countdown. From thirteen weeks to ten. Plus, instead of the first two pages of every chapter, I'm going to post the entire section of the first one, broken down in ten weeks.

Basically this will mean you should be able to see two pages a week of chapter one until the tenth and final week when I will post the last two.

I've been thinking about making this change because you'll be able to see the first section for free and I think it'll make more sense to read an entire part. It'll be choppy otherwise and it might just get on your nerves. Lol.

Just before I'm going to do it I will show the breakdown in a post here.

I hope you like it.

So, I look forward to talking with you on Thursday.

Mark