Tag: Editing
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One week until our date in Douglas Glade
I have been one busy author these past few weeks working on Death in Douglas Glade. Editing, editing, editing, almost there? No! More editing, and more still. OK, now we’re there. Then proofreading and formatting. And finally: submission! I am getting increasingly excited about this book being in readers’ hands. I had such a fun time writing…
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Beta reader feedback for Death in Douglas Glade
The comments are coming in for the latest draft of Death in Douglas Glade! Plenty of excellent feedback from my wonderful beta readers. They’ve highlighted things that don’t quite work, but also everything they loved. I couldn’t help sharing a few of those little snippets here: And now it’s time to make Death in Douglas…
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How long is a chapter?
Who knows? I don’t! But carving up my latest book into chapters got me thinking about it… While drafting and editing, I tend to work in scenes as opposed to chapters. My thinking is that scenes are segments of the story that’s being told, whereas chapters are breaks designed for the readers. Sometimes they line…
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Poison at Penshaw Hall: a super quick update
The release date for Poison at Penshaw Hall (The Milverton Mysteries #2) is fast approaching… A mere one month to go, and much work to do! Feedback from my wonderful beta readers has been pouring in. Frequently mentioned highlights have included Milverton throwing another body at Addison’s feet, his developing relationship with the studly Sergeant…
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Story edit complete for Poison at Penshaw Hall
The next Milverton Mystery has hit another important milestone now that the story edit is done! Sometimes called the developmental or structural edit, this involved cracking open the messy first draft of Poison at Penshaw Hall and getting to grips with the big picture. Does it have good bones? Does one scene flow to the next?…
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Hacking a first draft to bits
I’ve recently started attacking the structural edit for my second cosy mystery, Poison at Penshaw Hall, the sequel to Murder on Milverton Square. I’ve sliced and diced, splitting and rearranging the scenes from my first draft into a very different order: 7, 14, 15, 16a, 5, 1, 2, 16b, 3, 4, 10, 17–25, 9, 28, 12a,…
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When scenes become chapters
Throughout the drafting process for my cosy mystery novel – placeholder title: Milverton Mysteries 1 – I’ve been working in scenes. But as I prepare to bring in some fresh eyes, it’s time to organise these scenes into chapters. I’ve grouped some scenes, split others, and otherwise set about ending each chapter with the reader…
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Second draft of my first full-length novel ☠👨🍳
With a few interruptions along the way, it’s taken me two years to get to this point… First draft (i.e. getting it down) Plotting, planning, and scheming kicked off in February 2019 before I started the first draft two months later. What followed was seven months of tippity tapping away on the train to and…
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Second draft: butchering time
The short version: It’s been a few weeks since I completed the first draft of my latest book, the third in my Rise and Shine series. Now I’m ripping it to shreds, and stitching it back together again. I’ve been through to check it all hangs together and decided it needs quicker perspective switches as…
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100,000 words (so far)
I’ve just cracked 100,000 words written this year (so far) 🥳 Take that 2020! Tracking my word count, you can see the surge for each first draft, then the plateau as I tidy them up, move them around, then convince people they might like to read them. The first two books of my gay romcom…
G. B. Ralph 