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Thank you for your patience, everyone. This is a big update, but an important one!
A FULL DRAFT IS FINISHED!!!
Here’s what the timeline has been like:
Throughout the summer, Inkshares has guided me through a developmental edit of the manuscript, guided by my editor, Matt Harry. I’ve been working with a group of other amazing authors as we’ve all helped each other improve the structure of our stories. What I ended up with at the end of this process was a detailed outline of my story, as I decided to rewrite it for the most part.
In mid-September, I got the green light from Matt to go ahead and write the book all over again.
From September through the end of October, I expanded upon the outline I worked on with Matt, writing character sheets involving their personalities and background, as well as fun little things that won’t ever turn up in the story other than being guiding factors in the characters’ actions and decisions. I also wrote in details of the different settings, and I expanded the outline of the story itself into individual scenes. Basically, I was getting to know the world of the story I built. Part of fleshing that out was writing the prologue, which is still up on the book’s Inkshares page.
Approaching November, I made a big decision based on what I learned about my own story. I changed the entire perspective of how it is told. I was writing in third person, as an omniscient narrator, but I felt this was not personal enough. The writing was dry, the humor fell flat, and the characters just felt detached. I was slowing down and feeling a bit uninspired. Then, I decided to experiment with first person, and I wrote a few passages from the perspective of George, the main character in the story. Suddenly, the story felt warm, personal, and it had depth. I was excited for my tale once more!
This was great timing, as November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo, for short). For those who don’t know, NaNoWriMo is a free challenge to write a story of 50,000 words within the span of November. I participated, and I sacrificed a lot of sleep, and I completed the task! I FINISHED MY DRAFT! THE NOVEL IS FINISHED!!! And, I kicked NaNoWriMo’s ass by writing 86,298 words in a single month!
So...what now?
After the initial wave of emotion crashed over me as I typed the last words on the epilogue, I was finally able to talk without choking up. One of the first things I said to my wife was "I have birthed the child, now it’s time to raise it." And that’s actually a great little analogy. The book is here. It is born. It is readable and the story all makes sense. But I need to edit it, nurture it, make it great enough to release. I need to feed it and wipe its butt every time I look into its diaper and find a poop. It needs to be in a condition where, if you don’t like it, then it’s because of completely subjective things, not objective problems such as incoherence, plot holes, characters that don’t really make sense, or, God forbid, typos (gasp!).
So, it’s on to the edits. Right now that means I’m going to be combing through the manuscript myself, but I’m getting by with a little help from my friends. Namely, my wife, and the incredible Peter Ryan (you need to check out his book, for real). I’m hunting down a few others, but if you are reading this and feel excited to give what I have a read in exchange for constructive criticism, don’t be afraid to reach out to me.
I feel that I’ll be able to turn in the latest and greatest draft of this thing to Inkshares by January. I’ll let you know when I get it in. After that, I’ll be able to give you updates on the finishing of the developmental edit, the copyedit, and the proofread. When that happens, we’ll also be getting into fun stuff like cover design and planning book signings and release parties and any other tricks I might have up my sleeve. The release date is estimated to be in September at this point, and I will do my absolute best to make that happen.
I am proud of this story as it is now. It’s fun, it’s funny, but it’s also just a good story. I laughed and cried as I wrote it, though that might just be my crazy showing. I hope when this thing gets into your hands next year, you laugh and enjoy the story. But it’s okay if you cry, too.
Thank you for your support, as always. Don’t hesitate to reach out.
I love you all. For reals.
Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and Happy New Year!
2018 is going to be amazing.
Love always,
-Michael.
Pleeze give my Facebook author page a "like," why don’t ya? It’s here: Tall Tales Told
Or, if you’re more stoked about the extra characters on Twitter, I’m over there at times as well: @Tall_Tales_Told
