60 Days until Mind in the Clouds Release with 2.5 Versions…and Counting?

Time flies when you’re writing. 

By my countdown clock on Mind in the Clouds, I am just 60 days from its release.  And by the word counts on my various drafts, I have enough material for about 2.5 books.  Of course, every author writes and re-writes paragraphs, even chapters.  And on occasion, I save my drafts until I am certain which way I want to go.  But interesting to me, that word count I mentioned before includes two independent and relatively complete manuscripts.
 
I am not sure how it works for any other author; I am not even that confident that this is typical for me, as I am talking only about book 2 here, not number 27.  But, for the first two, I ended up with a couple of viable drafts even just weeks before going live.  Don’t misunderstand me, I am not talking about two different stories, but rather the same story, but with substantial differences in timing, emphasis, and tone.

I understand the source of my dual-manuscript predicament.  It is the result of my reluctance to show anything to anyone until I have a complete draft.  And that reluctance stems from the fact that, in lieu of an editor (whose services I can’t afford even if I could obtain one), I am taking advantage of my friends.  I know I need someone to tell me when the suspense has slipped away.  I know I need someone to say when I have gotten carried away with backstory.  And I know that, on occasion, someone needs to slap me upside my head when the psychological theory I quote is longer than the narrative.  But I can only abuse my friends so much, and that means, I cannot be coming back to them every month with a new chapter 2.

So, until I hit the big one (a best seller, not the lotto), I guess I’ll just be writing a couple of books for each one I publish.  And the night before it goes live, I’ll be sitting there at my laptop, finger poised over the submit button, debating, version A or version B…

Happy writing,
BmP