On My Writing Desk

At the moment, I’m deep in the editing process of Bound by Fire and Destiny. People often imagine editing as polishing sentences and fixing grammar. For me, it begins much earlier.

The first editing round is actually the first time I truly read the story. I don’t outline extensively before writing. Instead, I write in a state that feels almost like listening. Images, conversations, emotions, and scenes arrive, and I follow them. The words move faster than conscious planning, and often I don’t fully understand the story until I’ve reached the end.

Which means my first edit is a discovery. I sit down with the manuscript not as its architect, but as its first reader.

I’m looking for the story that emerged while I was busy writing it. Only after that comes the deeper work.

The second round focuses on character. Are their choices consistent? Are their fears, desires, and contradictions visible on the page? Have they remained true to themselves, even as they’ve changed?

The third round is plot. This is where I step back and look at the larger structure. Does every scene earn its place? Are the turning points arriving at the right moments? Does the story build tension in the way it should?

Editing is often described as fixing. For me, it’s more like excavation. The first draft buries the story beneath thousands of words. Editing is the process of uncovering what was there all along. And every round reveals something I didn’t know when I started.

Current status: Plot edits in progress.

With love,