6-AM Editing Challenge -- Week 5 Goals

What's the 6-AM Editing Challenge? You can read the backstory here, but in a nutshell, it's me getting up at 6-AM every morning and writing, in an attempt to finish edits on my novel, MIRRORPASS, by this summer. Read about my novel on the WIP page.

I thought it would be easier to measure progress and such if I posted goals at the beginning of each week, and wrap-up posts at the end.

Right now, I’m working on wrapping up this sequence. That means a couple things. First, I need to edit chapter 17, which I’ve been avoiding this whole time because it will take a very specific mindset to fix it the way I know it needs to be fixed. Second, I need to go over chapter 18 a few more times and polish, but it’s otherwise edited and solid.

Finally, I need to work on chapter 19. This is my major goal for the week. The breakdown is

• Scene 1: Rewritten to update plot, but still needs some work. It’s a bit raw.

• Scene 2: Completely new. Reads like mind-vomit. Needs a lot of work. Specifically, to read less like mind-vomit. (Also, there’s a newish character who has bizarre motivations sometimes, and I tried playing around with him in this scene, so as I continue with the chapter I’ll probably need to go back and tweak this until I get his actions right.)

• Scene 3: Mystery bridge scene? I have three or four ways I could play this. I want my MC, Aria, to have a chance and deal with some new plot threads I’ve introduced, but I’m also trying to merge some scenes from cut chapters here, and I’m ALSO trying to decide which direction this chapter should lead us in to solve a feasibility issue with the climax. Lots of muddling may occur. The wordcount in this chapter is already pretty high.

• Scene 4: Maybe add a short external POV snippet? I have a plot thread I’m trying to weave, but again, the wordcount is pretty high here, and it will all depend on how pacing shakes down anyway.

• Scene 5: Ambush scene! End of sequence! Segue into climax! This is already written, mostly solid, and just needs general line edits and a few plot updates. When I get here, I’ll be sky high. (Barely quenches an unprofessional *squee*)

And, because you guys won’t know unless I tell you, I’m also cutting between one and three scenes from this chapter completely.

The cool news is, it's Monday, so I can tell you that I already met one of my goals for the week. Very excited! Check back at the end of this week when I'll post the day-by-day breakdown.

How is your guys' challenge going?


Truly and always,
-Creative A