About a month ago, I finally finished the first draft of my novel, Natural Disaster. It’s been years in the making as I navigated becoming an editor, grandmother, and many other big life changes. The idea was sparked when my son said something off-hand, and that moment does appear in the book albeit changed to fit my story.

Writing an entire novel is very different from writing articles, short stories, and even serial stories. It requires longer focus and going deeper into character psyches. I rearranged scenes several times, and will probably rearrange them again during the editing process.

A question that I get asked a lot is: Are you going to hire an editor? They usually follow up with something along the lines of, “You’re an editor, so you probably don’t need to hire someone.”

The answer is YES! I am hiring an editor. While I am doing the majority of the work myself, I definitely want someone else to check for errors. Since I am an editor, I fully recognize the importance of hiring one. I’m using one for the last stage, but I am using one.

I am in the throes of developmental editing, and it’s definitely an adventure. There’s a lot I need to fix, and I deleted five entire chapters only to be told by my editor and author friend to put three back in. Oh well, it’s all part of the process. I plan on being as thorough with my book as I am with my clients’.

More updates to come soon!