Tag Archives: editing process

Cirque de la Nuit – A WiP in Stats

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I’m nearly (really very nearly) done with Cirque de la Nuit and I’ve been pushing myself these last couple of weeks to meet the target of publishing in August (yes I know there are only a few days left, but they still count!)

Someone just said about me finishing it up and “there’s just two more chapters to go” as if that takes a couple of hours to run off and be done with – and it made me respond by dragging up the stats to the current draft to quote just how long it takes to write a book, as I don’t think I’ll be finished today somehow!

So – not that I’m using this as a distraction from continuing Chapter 19 or anything – I thought it would be interesting to pull up all the drafts to date (I’m on version 5 currently) and see what has happened along the way.

Version 1 – started 3rd November 2015

35,006 words   Chapters 1-4   94 pages   3340 minutes

Version 2

63,636 words   Chapters 5-9   137 pages   2025 minutes

Version 3

85,373 words   Chapters ?   244 pages   4277 minutes

Version 4

103,100 words   Chapters ?   304 pages   6068 minutes

via GIPHY

So… I’m currently working through Version 5, which will likely become ‘CdlN – FINAL’ in my drafts folder before formatting for the various platforms to release. At present, it has taken just shy of four years to go from the first one-shot pieces that formed key scenes in this story to a finished book. And a total of 15,710 minutes of writing (up until today) or 261 hours of writing. It doesn’t feel like that much in some ways when you see it tabled up like that, but it sure feels like it as you go along, and especially when a lot of the time you only get a couple of hours here and there to write.

What about everyone else – do you know how long it really takes you to write a book? 🙂 Would love to hear how it is for others!

Mel x

 

 

 

 

 

Tick tock, tick tock

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The cogs in my brain are busily turning as I try to get to the end of the editing / proof-reading process with Balik’s story, before sending it away to the lovely people who’ve offered fresh eyes on the book, before I push out ARCs and then final official release. Unfortunately, my self-imposed deadline of ‘summer 2012’ has slipped a little – mainly due to a very busy period in my non-writing, working-life – the chaotic period has hopefully now drawn to a close, giving me the final concentrated time I need to put the finishing touches to Balik’s tale and move on to Outlanders, which has been hovering in the background for a good while now.

I’ve really enjoyed being in Balik’s head since April time, when I began ‘serious’ work on my old drafts of RMT. Even though the story is somewhat familiar to Cassie’s in Hope’s Daughter, it has been important to fill in the gaps of who he is and how he came to be the person that Cassie meets. When I began writing The Rainbow Maker’s Tale, I didn’t really know everything about Balik and so this has been a learning experience for me too. He’s a tough little cookie – but still a yummy cookie 🙂

I hope you’re looking forward to seeing more of Balik before the story continues in Outlanders, there’s a lot that Cassie didn’t know…she’s not the only one who can keep secrets.