8. Blog Announcement
Good evening readers, some exciting news this week in that I have completed all but the final chapter of my manuscript! It’s been close to nine months since I began working seriously on this project, and I’m excited to say I’m on track to meet my original goal of completing the second draft by the end of February 2025. I once feared that the further I got, the harder all of this would become, but it’s actually been quite the opposite, as my excitement, momentum and confidence has grown with every page I’ve knocked out.
So, what next?
As much as I’ve worked my socks off to get to this point, in a way, the work is only just beginning. I have recently engaged with professional editing services, not just for punctuation and typos, but a full developmental edit to address all elements of the novel, from plot and character to pacing and continuity. In the next couple of weeks, I’m also hoping to add a graphic designer to my team so I can get to work on a book cover (I have some fantastic draft ideas!)
Following this, I will be working on my third draft of the novel, cutting the bloat and adding/tweaking scenes where needed to ensure the clarity and continuity of the vision! I also have some great ideas for some short stories that I plan to write and submit to competitions in the coming weeks. (Stay tuned for more on this later.)
Then, onto the promotion side of things – an area that is equally daunting and exciting.
So far I’ve been admittedly spartan with my presentation, just posting my weekly article updates using simple gradients, but this is all about to change. In the background, I have been working on a timeline and social media plan regarding the rollout of the novel and the ongoing development of the JSH-Writes blog and website!
Going forward, I will be introducing a hybrid presentation format that will include a lot more photography and images, and my blog posts will cover more than just my personal writing process. I’m still working through what that content will look like, but some of my ideas include content on local reading and writing scenes, experiences around Melbourne, and perhaps even movie and game reviews/commentaries. To ensure the content remains diversified yet fresh, my longer-form blog posts will now be coming out fortnightly, though I will continue to post more content in between!
The thought of revealing my face and name to the public world has at times been frightening – putting oneself out there opens you up to a world of actions and reactions over which you have no control – but steps like this are necessary if I’m to continue chasing this dream.
Thank you all for coming along for the ride this far. It is only just the beginning…
With love,
JSH Writes,
Book Progress Update (some nice symmetrical numbers here):
Words: 82828
Chapters: 28
Pages: 333
Words last week: 3500 (= target word count)
