I finished the book. Well, I finished writing the book. And really, the ending amazed me because it wasn't what I thought it would be. I had planned to end it on a happy note with a fraction of a cliff hanger to make the reader want to pick up the next book in the series.
See, about a month ago I was in church singing worship, and loving it. I had my eyes closed as I sang and a picture came to my mind of a young woman on her knees, her hair down as curtains around her face. In that moment I felt her feelings and wrote down what I imagined. I told myself that image would work well in the second book of the series and to save it for then.
Fast forward a few weeks and I was finishing my novel. Like I said, I wanted the end to be an air of gladness, but maybe it was my mood or the Holy Spirit, because it was very much not on a happy note. :) I can't say what it was, but the opposite of jolly. Before I knew it, I was explaining the image of my character on the floor with her dark hair strewn about and BAM, I wrote what I saw weeks prior without realizing it. Gave me chills.
Now I am in the editing process.
It's funny because I saw this mug a long time ago that said 'Writer by choice, editor by necessity.' And now I want that mug! It's so true. Man, editing is a tedious task. Don't get me wrong though, anything that escorts my book into completion and publication is well worth it! Including editing!I am about 70 pages into editing my book and stuck. Yesterday I worked on it for five hours until my head ached and I just couldn't for the life of me fix a particular chapter. It didn't flow or really explain what I want the reader to understand and no matter how I changed it, I still couldn't get my main point across. That's when I decided to call it a day and go play at the book store for a little while.
I decided, though after dealing with the snag yesterday, that I will write on a piece of paper each chapter and the focus to see the steps the book takes to the climax and then to the end. I want to make sure each step is in a progressive line and clearly explained. I look forward to seeing a explanatory picture of the story as a whole.
102,678 words (I'm am still adding the word count because as I edit I hope to cut a little out)
