I've cut 10 pages out of the first five chapters of the WIP. This isn't a huge shock since I knew it needed a lot of trimming. Usually in the beginning, I'm still exploring my characters and getting to know them, so there's extra stuff there. Also, sometimes I think I'm going to use a plot thread, but end up not. Like in this story, I thought Maia's job and her coworkers were going to be a much bigger issue for her during the course of the book. It's all set up to be a major focus, but it ended up not being the case. I do need some of the job stuff there, but not as much and that's where the major cutting came.
Actually, I thought I was going to lose more pages in the chapters than I did, but there wasn't quite as much to cut out of chapters 1-3 as I thought. Four took the brunt of it.
My goal on revisions is to finish 5 chapters a day. I didn't quite make it last night, although I got the bulk done. I have a little tweaking left to do and I have a transition to make at the end of a chapter, but the heavy lifting should be done here.
I have half a gazillion emails backed up. The problem is they're all email that require energy and brain power to answer and all of that is focused on the WIP right now. It has to be. So I wonder if I should send an email saying, "hey, I got your note, but I won't have time to answer until next week" or not.
I watered my tree peony yesterday. Um, it's looking a little sad. I don't know if that means I'm giving it too much water or not enough. It hasn't been raining here, so it's not like it's getting anything extra above what I'm giving it. Then I wonder if it's the dirt. Maybe I should have bought black dirt to pack around it because my yard looks kind of clay-ey. Of course, it's possible that the tree is just fine and I'm expecting too much from it. After all, I did just plant it last Thursday.
