I’ve been told that Dead Bait 2 is on the printers this week, so not too much longer before I get to read it.
Five days ago I started the second draft of a novel I trunked in May. It’s amazing going back into that world. For the novel I’m querying I waited six weeks before the second draft, and there’s no question that allowed for a better editing experience. But for this novel it was about ten months. To be honest I was a little freaked out that the novel wasn’t how I remembered it, that I’d be disappointed. Well, it’s better than I thought. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done and I’m OK in saying that. I set it aside after the first draft because of plot complications and the amount of editing and proceeded with the linear, fast-paced novel #2, and this “hopscotching” worked out. My goal is to have the fifth and final draft complete by May 1st, with a query to an agent on the 2nd. That gives me two novels out in the agentsphere.
This is a great time for me to be editing. I’ve burned a lot of creative fuel since last February–two novels and thirty short stories (all the short stories coming from May 2010 until present). In mid-May I’ll start a new novel if the ideas are there.
My query for novel #2 is in the mailbox of one agent right now, the other query got caught in a spam filter. Time to resend that one.
I, too, recently went back to edit an ancient draft. It was a blast. Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep focused for more than about a fifth of the (novel-length) manuscript… nonetheless, time does seem to make things shine.
Hey Ben, thanks for stopping by. If anyone gets a chance, stop by his site:
http://bengodby.blogspot.com/
He updates his site much more than I do.
As for the revision focus, maybe you haven’t found that long story that really intrigues you yet. Who knows. Writing is a fickle thing.
Wow, thirty stories! That’s phenomenal output…and two novels in the works, as well. Kudos, man. Keep it up!