Manuscript progress

I had named my end-of-April milestone 4.0b1; I needed to do a read-through to catch any issues before completing the fourth draft. I finished that read-through in May, but the changes were extensive: a number of chapter and scene reorders, with a number of major scene rewrites. I retroactively renamed 4.0b1 to 4.0, and labeled my latest changes the fifth draft.

I submitted the fifth draft to my beta reader and developmental editor [!!]. Afterwards, I think I had a bit of a creative hangover from finishing quick-but-extensive back-to-back drafts.

Tooling updates

(These are all in the tooling repo)

I:

• added support to convert from docx to markdown, allowing me to diff changes to a docx easier (e.g., when I get my Track Changes docx back)
  • (these steps will also let me diff docx files in git.)
• added support to export my outline files as pdf to submit to my editor
  • later added support to export any set of markdown files to pdf
• added --grep to frontmatter query and added support for non-manuscript markdown files
• added novel new to copy a template to the specified path
  • moved the css and template files into the tools repo
  • added support for conversion-format-specific metadata files, primarily to support a pen name
• added multi-book support
• added novel lint and novel lint --fix to catch markdown errors I keep worrying about

Keeping the manuscript largely read-only

I do have new tools to highlight three-way merge diffs, so I could merge any new changes with whatever changes my editor suggests, but I’m going to try to keep the manuscript read-only until I get the developmental edit back. First, my editor prefers it that way; second, I would still have to sync any changes manually; and third, I’m a bit burnt after two intensive full manuscript passes over the past few months. I’ll take a break from the manuscript and look at it with fresh eyes later.

Instead, I’m brainstorming and fleshing out future books in the series. Ideally I’ll identify any corresponding changes I need to make in Book 1 before I send it out to agents or a publisher. (It bugs me when a critical detail goes unmentioned until it’s introduced at the beginning of a new book or new season, because I can see the writer(s) making stuff up as they go along. And retconning is right out.)

Plans for June

My primary tasks for June:

• Leave my manuscript alone, as much as I am able
• Wait for feedback/edits! (though I may have to wait until late July)
• Plan out future books, and note where I need to make changes in Book 1 to accommodate them.

I have a loooong list of other tasks, but I at least want to accomplish the above.

Stats

I’m not certain how useful these stats are anymore, but they’re easy enough to generate.

Manuscript markdown files: 96
Manuscript words: 162181
Total markdown files: 469
Total words: 344008

I’ve streamlined the outline quite a bit. I think it’ll start growing again.

End of Draft 2.5:       958 beats, 65 arcs, 93 scenes
End of August 2024:    1088 beats, 70 arcs, 99 scenes
End of September 2024: 1804 beats, 70 arcs, 95 scenes
End of October 2024:   2139 beats, 63 arcs, 95 scenes
End of November 2024:  2080 beats, 63 arcs, 95 scenes
End of December 2024:  2063 beats, 63 arcs, 97 scenes
End of January 2025:   2001 beats, 62 arcs, 97 scenes
End of Third Draft:    1865 beats, 63 arcs, 97 scenes
End of March 2025:     1630 beats, 65 arcs, 96 scenes
End of April 2025:     1203 beats, 66 arcs, 98 scenes
End of May 2025:       1068 beats, 67 arcs, 96 scenes