I’m working on a book, and this is the first time I’m using an app that acts like an editor. I’ve been going back and forth about how often I should check in with my “editor” and have decided to check in as often as I can.
I don’t consider myself a verbose writer. I used to struggle with page counts when I wrote essays in school, shrinking margins and increasing font size to hit the required page count when necessary. When I started doing freelance, and there was a required word count, I looked for the wordiest way to say something, and Grammarly (if not my editor) would shoot me down.
When I wrote my last book, Lulu: Adventures in a Dog’s Life, it ended up being 50 pages. I wrote it for an Amazon.co.uk contest, and I felt I told all the story I needed to tell. My first book was over 130 pages, but I felt like I needed to say all that’s in there.
As I work on this third book, my “editor” tells me I’m trying to do too much in one chapter. It’s asking me why I’m including a story about x when I’ve spent most of the chapter talking about y? My “editor” is definitely keeping me on my toes. 😉
I chose to work with my “editor” after an evaluation of the book I had written so far; it was off to a good start, but needed work in certain parts. I’d hate to have written an entire book, only to find out I was on the wrong track and I had to scrap most of it. 😩
I’m excited to have found my “editor”. I think it will help make me a better writer, and that’s my goal: to have each book be better than the last. 🩵