The Messy Middle: Writing a Book and Questioning Everything

Book two is officially 70% written. Which feels both exciting… and slightly terrifying.

I just started writing chapter 31, which means the finish line is finally starting to peek over the horizon. Not close enough to touch yet, but close enough that I can see it if I squint a little.

Maybe.

Lots of fun parts and lots of parts I'm doubting.

It's just, you know… the usual writing process.

Right now, I’m still deep in drafting mode, trying to get the rest of the story down before switching gears.

Because once the draft is finished, the next phase begins - edits.

The plan is to start my first round of edits at the end of March - hopefully before my dog's surgery on March 27 so I can get everything done while he's on kennel rest.

That’s when I’ll go back through everything with fresh eyes, smooth out the messy parts, and fix the plot holes that I’m pretending not to see right now.

After that, the manuscript will head off to beta readers by the end of April. Which is equal parts exciting and nerve-wracking. There’s something very real about letting other people into the story for the first time.

But for now, the focus is simple: keep writing. Keep moving forward. And keep this momentum going until the draft is finally finished.

More soon — hopefully with even more progress to report.