Book 3 Writing Process (So Far)

This month I turned in my first round of edits for Book 3 of Swords and Fire, yay! I thought it might be fun to share a bit of what the process for writing it has been like so far.

First phase: Brainstorming. This was my first time writing the conclusion of a trilogy, and the brainstorming process was very different. I came up with a whole checklist of plot threads or relationships for which I wanted to give a satisfying conclusion, moments I wanted to happen, etc. I also knew I wanted to escalate the stakes appropriately for the last book in the trilogy, and I literally made a list of really bad things that could happen for inspiration. (I didn’t use ALL of them, I promise.)

Second phase: Plotting. I had to pull all those ideas together seamlessly into a coherent story with a clear through line and emotional arc, which was a daunting task! I’m still editing this book, of course, so whether I ultimately succeed remains to be seen, but I’m cautiously pleased thus far.

Third phase: Drafting. After all that brainstorming and plotting, my deadline was not getting any farther away, and I had to race along at a pretty wild pace. I followed my usual pattern of getting 10K-20K words done and then restarting with a new draft, and then getting 50K-70K words in and realizing I need to go back to the beginning and start another new draft again.

This actually works really well for me. The first restart happens because at first I’m just feeling my way into the book and flailing around, and after I’ve got a grip on what the hell I’m doing I can start over and be more on target on the second try. The second restart happens when I’ve gotten far enough in that I’ve realized ways I can improve the book structurally, but those structural changes are significant enough that they’ll change the way the rest of the book unfolds. I’ve done this for all three books in the trilogy, one way or another, and I think it’s really improved the final results.

Fourth phase: Revision plan. After getting feedback from my editors (both my amazing editor Sarah Guan and my equally amazing UK editor Emily Byron), I had lots of input to process. Plus I had my own list I’d been keeping of changes I either ran out of time to make in the first draft or thought of after turning it in. And on top of all that, I have certain types of analysis I always run at this stage (after completing a first draft): looking at stuff like through line, stakes, agency, the arcs of each major character and each major relationship, individual plot arcs, etc. I take each big structural piece and try to look at it separately, making sure it holds up on its own if I squint at it and ignore all the other fluffy story bits clinging to and obscuring it.

I then took my pages and pages of notes on things I wanted to change and turned them into a concrete scene-by-scene revision plan. For instance, I might take something vague and general like “increase agency” and then look at my scene list and go “Ooh, in this scene I can make this whole plan Amalia’s idea instead of something presented to her by others,” or “I can make this dangerous encounter something she initiates herself, knowing the risks, rather than something sprung on her by surprise.” I turn that into a revision outline which I know I won’t stick to completely, but which is there to organize all my ideas to make the book better (including how I’ve decided to address my editors’ notes) so I can refer to it as I revise.

Fifth phase: Structural edits! I went through the whole book in order, addressing my editors’ comments as well as my own ideas to improve the book, scene by scene. I added scenes, deleted or moved scenes, edited scenes, and rewrote a whole bunch of stuff from scratch. I’ve found I can often do a better job on a second try even for a scene that’s working okay already, so there were a LOT of scenes I rewrote with the same basic beats, just sharper and better.

The schedule for this round of edits was REALLY tight for me, so I didn’t get to take a second stab at some new scenes I may not have nailed on the first try, or to go back and work in some stuff that would lead up to later events better. And my brain kept very helpfully going OOOH OOH OOH I HAVE THIS GREAT IDEA FOR A SCENE YOU COULD ADD AND A THING YOU COULD DO up until literally the night before edits were due. I was like, THANKS, BRAIN, COULDN’T YOU HAVE THOUGHT OF THIS A MONTH AGO? But no. So that stuff will have to go in next round! That’s the thing about working with a publisher…you’re always going to keep thinking of more ways to make the book better, but at some point they need to take it from your grabby writer hands even if IT’S NOT PERFECT YET WAAAIIIIT OMG because they need to actually have your work in their hands to take their turn and work their magic.

Book 3 was about 110K words at the end of draft one, and is now 145K words at the end of draft two. In addition to those 35K new words, I also rewrote large chunks of the existing wordcount. But it’s still mostly the same main plot points in the same order, because the structure was reasonably decent on the first pass for this one. Editing is a strange alchemy.

I’m really excited to share this book with everyone! Once it’s ready, of course. There are more rounds of edits coming, and lots more work to do.