I’ve spent the last month or so working on intense revisions to Ilya’s Gambit as part of my Pitch Wars mentorship. It’s been a lot of work so far—hours every day—but I’ve finally reached that point where I can’t think of any other developmental changes or tweaks I want to make right now. Of course, I might think of one in a few minutes, or my mentor might have even more great suggestions on how to improve this book, but I’m so proud of how far it’s come.
Does this mean I’m done? No, absolutely not. I’ve still got work to do where grammar and line edits are concerns. Not to mention that I may have more developmental tweaks to make once I get another round of feedback.
Here’s a quick snapshot of a section of my manuscript pre-Pitch Wars compared to today:
Some sections are completely new, others have few changes, and some are in between. The screenshot only shows a few chapters, but this level of changes is fairly representative of the whole.
While there’s a lot of red marks in that snapshot above, imposter syndrome is rough. One moment I’ll feel great about where I’ve taken this story. The next, doubts set in. Have I really done enough? Is there something I could do to make it even better? Will readers actually like this? I think this is something that most creatives battle, but wow, it really does sneak up on you and strike from nowhere sometimes.
What’s next on my Pitch Wars journey? While I focus on line edits, my mentor will take another read through the full manuscript. Once I get her feedback, I’ll make additional revisions while polishing up the words. I also need to solidify my pitch for the showcase. I have some written, but getting a pitch just right takes many, many revisions. I think I’ll need at least a few more before the end of January.
Thank you for catching up on my journey, and look for another update in 2020!