Book update
Since my last blog post was almost a year ago, and it was about NaNoWriMo, I think it’s fitting if I update about that project. I did start a writing project last November, but I didn’t make it to 50,000 words by the end of November. I got to about 30,000 words. I’ve worked on the book on and off throughout the year, and it’s still not finished, but I’m happy with how it’s going. It’s a story set in Arethia, the same world as my other series, but it’s set before the events of my Dragons of Arethia trilogy, and it’s intended to be a mystery of sorts. I really love books that blend fantasy and mystery, I think a little bit of cozy mystery, and I decided to try my hand at my own. I’ll let readers decide how well it went. I still don’t have a title for it, but I’ll be sure to post news of it here and to my email newsletter when it’s published.
Editing update
One of the hard things about trying to do side projects while working a full-time job and also taking care of kiddos is that if I have multiple side projects I want to work on, I really have to pick and choose what to focus on. In addition to working on my novel, I have also been working on my editing and proofreading skills. This past April, I completed an online course for proofreading transcripts of court proceedings. That course included 50 practice transcripts, some 20 or so pages long, and others over 100 pages long. After I finished that I decided to expand my skills, and I joined the Editorial Freelancers Association and signed up for their proofreading and copy editing courses. I took Proofreading 101 and 201, and I’m currently finishing Copy Editing – Beginning and in the midst of Copy Editing Fiction. Although I already had what I thought was a great grasp of grammar, spelling, and punctuation, it has been great to learn through these courses where my weak spots are and improve on them. I think one of the biggest things I’ve learned is that proofreading and editing is not really about knowing all the rules, but more about knowing what you don’t know, so that you can use your style manual and dictionary to look it up! I look forward to continuing on this journey and building these services into my writing business.
