Chapter Seven. I call it the mammoth. 4,500 words it was.

Last weekend I edited half of it. This weekend I edited the other half. I think it's better. I still need to get the computer to read it to me.

The melodrama, oh, the melodrama! Gone now. Yay!

Oh, the action's the same, but I'm not all like, HE PRETTY MUCH DIED.

I hope I'm not doing this too wrong. Am I wrong to think the plot doesn't need that much changing? Your first draft will be terrible, they said. But I'm certain that's a totally objective statement. It depends how you write your first draft, how much you planned, and how meticulously you wrote.

I wrote to a general and sometimes meticulous outline. Surely my drafts will need less revision than that of a pantser.

I think my plot is the best I can do right now, and to change it dramatically would be to delay something that doesn't need to be delayed. I'd end up with something different, but not necessarily better.

I want to add things. I dropped 1,000 words this chapter. Soon I will be descending into the novella wasteland. My dream wasn't to hold a thin little book in my hands -- I want something that makes me proud, and for some reason, that doesn't cut it. My goal is 200+ pages in print. I think that's a decent place to start.