Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: accomplished
  • Music: Chris Conway, "Alien Jellyfish Song."

Draft stats -- ASHES OF HONOR.

Words: 113,490.
Pages: 380.
Chapters: 26.

Reason for stopping: draft two is finished.
Music: a lot of fan mixes, actually.
The cats: Lilly, in my tank top drawer; Alice, on the orange cat tree; Thomas, occupying half the bed.

And there we are; draft two is finished, roughly a month after draft one was put solidly to bed. All the edits have been processed, many words have been trimmed, many logic puzzles have been solved, and many more surely remain. The trimmed-down, slimmed-down manuscript is off to The Agent, who will savage it with sharp, sharp teeth and cruel, cruel claws, and it will be a better book as a consequence.

Next up, The Chimes at Midnight, which stands a good chance of losing the "The" before it ever sees print. But we shall see, won't we?
Tags: ashes of honor, book status, busy busy busy, editing, personal superhero, toby daye, writing
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  • 16 comments

ironed_orchid

November 24 2011, 04:26:19 UTC 5 years ago

September is so far away...

But I'm glad there is lots of time to have agent and editor work their magic.

seanan_mcguire

November 24 2011, 06:05:37 UTC 5 years ago

Me, too. I would be lost without them.

starmalachite

November 24 2011, 05:04:50 UTC 5 years ago

I understand the reasons for eliminating the initial word, but I prefer the rhythmic flow of The Chimes at Midnight.

seanan_mcguire

November 24 2011, 06:05:54 UTC 5 years ago

As do I, but I no longer have faith in four word titles staying that way.

pbristow

November 24 2011, 11:07:56 UTC 5 years ago

You could try a bluff: Call the manuscript "The The Chimes At Midnight". When the editor calls to say "this title has too many words in it", you can um and ah for a bit before saying "OK, take out the *second* 'The'. Not the first one!"

serge_lj

November 24 2011, 13:47:55 UTC 5 years ago

I *like* that!

domynoe

November 24 2011, 05:07:10 UTC 5 years ago

I'm impressed you can consider something done (well, done enough) on a second draft. I do at least 6 rounds of revisions before I let it go to beta readers. lol

seanan_mcguire

November 24 2011, 06:06:21 UTC 5 years ago

I no longer have that luxury. I have betas by chapter, and I pray nothing gets seriously broken between drafts one and two.

dormouse_in_tea

November 24 2011, 06:58:17 UTC 5 years ago

Congratulations!

seanan_mcguire

November 27 2011, 22:05:19 UTC 5 years ago

Thanks!

knittingwoman

November 24 2011, 18:46:45 UTC 5 years ago

i look forward to reading them.

seanan_mcguire

November 27 2011, 22:05:27 UTC 5 years ago

Yay. :)

yellowblackhaze

November 24 2011, 21:13:27 UTC 5 years ago

More Toby on the way, and that can't possibly be a bad thing.

seanan_mcguire

November 27 2011, 22:05:35 UTC 5 years ago

I hope not.

kippurbird

November 25 2011, 04:08:05 UTC 5 years ago

Off topic, I recall in a previous post you were looking for Monster high dolls? I saw some in my supermarket and was wondering which you were looking for?

seanan_mcguire

November 27 2011, 22:06:05 UTC 5 years ago

The Sweet 1600 assortment, the new two-packs, and the Cupid doll. (New two-packs are Wolf sisters and Cat sisters.)