draft # 3: labor of lack of sleep

i just finished the third draft of f.t.d.s.m. (aka, the name of this blog) and can truly say i slept very little. why? because i set my own deadlines and i always try to keep them. i can't say i kept this one, but not for lack of trying. i was only seven hours behind. 

what used to be in the ball park of 340 pages turned into 400 or so with this rewrite, and with that came a lot of rereading and changing every single page after i made a change. this time i added an additional chapter after chapter  4, making a new chapter 5. 

no one on this blog has even read the book  yet, but i'll tell you a little of what i changed and why i like the changes.

thanks to my amazing editor, ainsley now struggles more. life isn't all about boys/men even if it's all you think about. it might be all you actually want in life, to get married and be loved and wanted, but that's not all that you actually have to do deal with. and so ainsley chambers now has more in her life than just a bad date (or seven). 

this draft brought carter, sidney, and ivy in more often in more conversations. this draft brought aunt bella into a real support system, not just a previous store owner. this draft brought drama to dayton, not just heroism.

this draft brought life in. the little struggles, the little annoyances, the let downs, the freak outs that are not life-altering, but still happen. this draft has made the old draft look too linear, and so, i am excited. 

it was a lack of sleep week for me, but it was totally worth it. and i can't believe it took me until i was 27 to realize how much i love this process. 

and because i get to turn this one in to be read and critiqued, i now can start on my latest novel and get some of that research on paper :) i'm a happy writer, camper, whatever.