On to Round Four

Who knew the ending of Doleful Creatures was so bad? And is still rather putrid but is at least a lot better than it was a few weeks ago?

Well, I did. I knew it when I wrote it. So tackling it as a special part of my third go-through of the book was going to be a challenge.

Here’s where I left it: After Revision 3 was done, I’d added just over 10,000 words and 35 pages to the book.

With Revision 3.5 done, I’ve now added nearly 17,000 new words for a total of 56 new pages.

That’s a lot of end of the book revision and addition. But the book needed a better ending, and I think I’ve provided that. At least in part. Still, some testing . . .

So, what’s next?

On to Revision 4. But It’s not going to be me doing it.

I’m on to beta readers. I may have found at least two willing victims in my current FDENG 101 English class, where I’ve got a good crop of budding novelists and one student who works in acquisitions for a small publisher (don’t know yet if there’s a good fit with Doleful Creatures and my book, but I’ll be darned if I’m not going to find out). No stone unturned, as Jarrod might say if he spoke in cliches like that. (I won’t say he doesn’t speak in clichés because I’m not that good of a writer, but I have yanked a few out. Probably put a few in with the new additions, but that’s life.)