I’ve skipped the typical monthly update in October, but it’s back for November, even though there are still two days left in the month. There was progress, but a different kind that I maybe hoped for.

On my one-year anniversary as a self-published author, I mentioned at the very end that edits of book two were continuing but I’ve run into a challenge. The second book has two major plots and a personal subplot for the MC. While the two major plots are in a decent state on their own… that’s the issue, on their own. When I’ve been developing the story’s earlier concept, I expected that each of them would be a separate book. As I went on with the first draft, I decided to make them into one book – but they still followed one another with minimal interaction. Sure, there’s some crossover between them, but it could be much better.

Then, there’s the personal aspect for Tyr’eshal. That, in addition to being affected by the above, had its own issue. While that issue may be more on topic of relationship dynamics, the fact behind that is simple: those issues were caused by pacing of that particular subplot, and that itself is affected by the first problem.

So, I faced a tough suggestion – one that would lead to a major rework. To rearrange the order of some events to better weave the two major plot lines together. At first, I was like “hell no” – but that wasn’t because the idea would be bad. It was because I was scared of how much work it would take. I had to think about it, which is what happened in late October and most of November.

As I realized such a change – though drastic – has a major potential to improve the story, I decided to try. It took me a while to figure out how to change the order of events – and that alone will get a separate post because the process was a bit lengthy. The good point is that I won’t have to rewrite that much – the first and last ~15 chapters will be mostly untouched and a lot of in-between will be used, even if with heavy edits. The hardest part will be to make sure there aren’t continuity issues and anachronisms, which means that on top of the editing itself, I may need a couple of read-throughs to see if I will have missed something.

In the last week of November, I finally started that process, after a break and a lot of thinking.

I’ll wrap it up here. Details for the process will come soon in a separate post. This next draft will be a test of my resolve as a writer, so I hope I have what it takes to pass. To those of you who face difficult times with your story, hold on. Many of us do at some point. And it’s on us to show we have it in us.

See you next time.