September Newsletter: Developmental Edits and Returning to Normalcy

The book baby has been sent off, so I feel like a human again (at least for the next three weeks)!

Hello writing community!

It’s been a minute! Is everyone still here? Good.

While it’s still officially summer, fall is nipping at our tails. 🍂 Hell, I’ve been seeing the fall book aesthetic – complete with plaids, steaming cups, and dreamy cabins – on social media since the end of July.

While I love fall, let’s face it, fall in Southern California is like riding your bike through the desert. It’s hot, it’s windy, and by the end, you’re so tired of it, you are praying for the winter rains to come. 🌦️ Winter is by far my favorite season here.

But, I’m excited for this fall because for me it’ll be the Season of Revisions!

Because I finished Draft 4!

On August 30, I submitted the fourth draft of my manuscript to my developmental editor. Clocking in at 115,734 words (or 424 pages in Microsoft Word for those of you who don’t speak in word counts), this book baby was no small feat. I took it as far as I could and finally typed the words “the end.” (That elusive last chapter hadn’t been written in earlier drafts.)

Then I went camping for the rest of the weekend and haven’t laid a finger on my work since. 🙌🏼

And it feels sooo damn good.

I know this draft isn’t perfect, but it’s as complete as I can make it. The last months leading up to this submittal were intense. I spent every single free moment of time revising and writing. On most mornings, I was up when the sky was still dark, writing away in the living room until the day demanded my attention. On my lunch break, I wrote in the courtyard at work with the constant hum of the 8 as my backdrop. In the evenings, I sat in one of the kids’ rooms while they fell asleep, hand-writing revisions on a printed manuscript.

During every spare moment on the weekends, I was also working on this draft, even canceling social plans to work on it. Who was I!?

I’m pretty sure if the kids had heard me say “Mommy’s writing” one more time, they would have thought the book was more important than them. And in those moments, it was. At least, it was more important than me getting them their two hundredth snack of the day.

And when I wasn’t writing or revising, my characters were in my head all day, demanding to be let loose on those pages once again.

Writing a book is like living in two worlds at the same time. All throughout this process, I wanted to gossip about my characters to my friends and family.

“Omg, do you remember when Santon walked Sira to her class and that guy stopped them on the promenade? That was such a crazy scene, right!?”

But I couldn’t. Because no one would have known what I’m talking about.

But hopefully, if all goes well, you will soon!

So, what is a developmental editor?

Most of you writers know what a developmental editor is, but I get asked this question quite a bit by friends and family.

So, what is developmental editing?

For fiction, developmental editors look at the story as a whole. They look at things like pacing, plot structure, character growth, and a story’s stakes with the goal of finding ways to cut out the parts that drag, make sure readers connect with characters, and set up the story arc so that it does what it is supposed to do: tell a story!

Basically, they provide a professional opinion on how to make an overall story the best it can possibly be.

What they don’t do is provide line or copy edits. They will only leave comments on a draft and write up a fifteen-or-more-page editorial letter that covers all the aspects of a book that are working and those that aren’t.

I chose my developmental editor, Kourtney Spak, because she was someone I had been following on Instagram since my freelance copyediting days.

She’s always had very thoughtful and helpful posts about the craft of writing, and I could tell she’s very committed to her business and clients. (And, honestly, her posts are always visually clean and neat. While this doesn’t necessarily mean she’s a good editor, it shows me she has a great eye for detail. As someone who also obsesses over perfectly crafted IG carousels on Canva, I can appreciate this life goal.)

I sent her my first chapter back in January for a sample edit, along with a lot of other information about the book I am writing. She gave me some great feedback and notes, so I decided she would be a good editor for this book.

By the end of September, she will provide me with an editorial letter and a version of my manuscript with her comments. Getting this professional feedback is very exciting in all the possible ways: nerve-wracking, happy, worried, and energizing.

What I’m reading

I read my manuscript.

No, really, this is what I read the last two months.

But . . . I did manage to finish the third book in Heather Fawcett’s cozy Emily Wilde fantasy series, Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales. It was a satisfying ending to this series with just a hint of darkness and some very sweet Wendell and Emily moments. And – spoiler – the dog doesn’t get killed. Phew! 5/5 stars

I also listened to the first two books in Penn Cole’s Kindred’s Curse series, Spark of the Everflame and Glow of the Everflame. As far as my guilty pleasure romantasy series go, this one is better than others I have read recently (I’m looking at you, Quicksilver. Seriously, what’s with the obsession about this book?). The narrator does a really good job with voices, too. 4/5 stars.

Between books, I’ve been reading Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s World of Wonders. I love these snippets of zoology and nature mixed with the author’s accounts of growing up as a young woman of color in various cities across the US.

Up next on the TBR...

• The Fragile Threads of Power, by V. E. Schwab (just started!—this one is set in the fantasy world of some of her other books)

• The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson (a nonfiction history of the Great Migration of Black Americans from the South to the North and West)

• The Comfort of Crows, by Margaret Renkl (another nonfiction book recommended by my mom that journals the backyard life of the author for a year)

• Atmosphere, by Taylor Jenkins Reid

• The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver (September book club read)

What are you reading?

Writing friend spotlight

If you are in the mood for a novella with some fantastical elements, a few action-y twists, and distinct characters, I would recommend HL Bernabe’s By Her Grace.

This story centers around the halfling Paisley and the friendship she forms with a stranger, Prilani, who stumbles upon the village while on the run.

It is a prequel to her upcoming Dell Chronicles series and launches Paisley’s ultimate adventures.

It also has an ending that caught me a bit off guard! 👀

Holly’s definitely an inspiration in my writing world. She’s hardworking, has a good heart, and brings so many good resources – and some good laughs – to our Discord writing group. Her books and other info can be found on her website: hlbernabe.com.

Please share this newsletter with your friends and family!

I am not ashamed to ask for help in spreading the word about my writing career – this is the only way I will grow my audience and successfully publish this book one day.

You can help by sharing my website, newsletter, and/or Substack with anyone who might be interested in reading my future novel. Every little bit counts, and you will have my deepest gratitude for doing so!

Until next time, happy writing and reading!