Rewriting and editing and rewriting

Nothing is precious, kill your darlings, avoid DEEP LORE

I write and publish as I go, one chapter per week, and have worked this way since about 2015. It works well for me, bringing me back to the table and making sure I get the words down. It doesn’t seem to matter if there’s a handful of people reading online or thousands - either way, the box is ticked in my brain and I stay productive.

It’s all about forward momentum, and means that a lot of my output is very raw. There are a couple of exceptions: I’ve had two projects now which have seen extensive editing and re-writes, and the process for both of them I thought would be of interest and possible use to other writers.

No Adults Allowed started life as an online serial in 2020, and over the last couple of years I’ve edited it several times into the polished version which is now available as an ebook and paperback. Meanwhile, The Mechanical Crown began as a novel manuscript back in the early 2000s, and then was entirely re-written from the ground up for an online serialisation in 2017. Opposite trajectories, then.

Let’s start off with the more recent one.