February, 28, 2023

Daily Diary, Day 910:

Another day of editing. Yesterday the total number of words cut was 1297, and today I've cut 2047 words!

It's an interesting process. Sometimes it's just a phrase or two, unnecessary adverb or adjective, those are easy. However, sometimes it is a section that I quite like, all about the history of New Eden, the Paradisi Project, interesting little detours into why the Yus call elders Aunt and Uncle, etc. but in rereading, its clear these section are not only not necessary but actually counter productive because they slow things down. I am keeping these deleted scenes, because who knows, maybe in the subsequent book, or some future series set in this universe, they will become relevant!

But, cutting them is the right thing to do for this book.

Today, I had my teeth cleaned, no problems discovered, and I felt unreasonably pleased that the technician said my gums were in good shape. I walked for 40 minutes, of which 20 of those minutes it rained. Very light, but enough to make the street wet. But the last 10 minutes the sun cam out and dried up the back of my sweatshirt, which had gotten damp! Crazy weather.

Besides putting groceries away, regular house cleaning, one short phone call, the rest of the day was edit, edit, edit.

Here is a nice pinky-purple bush that I'm not sure I ever noticed before. Now time for me to post and go get dinner!