Date: 2010-01-01
Type: Verbatim
Today’s work: Write the wind’s scene in Towers of Midnight . (As I’ve noted, I’m not going through the books in order, but by viewpoint.)
Tossed the section from Towers of Midnight I wrote on Friday. I knew at the time it wasn’t working, but sometimes you need to finish so you can redo it.
1200 words of Towers of Midnight written today. The ball is rolling again, and the exhaustion caused by the tour is wearing off.
Two things are slowing me. First, I feel Towers of Midnight will need to be longer than The Gathering Storm . Second, a major plotline needs an overhaul.
Brandon later indicated (as many fans suspected) that the overhaul was Mat’s plotline.
Q: Why has the Towers of Midnight progress bar been stuck at the same number for so long?
A: Been doing revisions. Plan to do a blog post soon.
Problem: I want the book to work on its own, and not feel like “All of the stuff that didn’t go in The Gathering Storm thrown together.”
This book needs to be at least as good as The Gathering Storm , if not better. Either way, it’s probably going to be longer—consider yourself warned.
Today’s work: Re-reading Perrin chapters from The Path of Daggers .
I’d totally forgotten about the scarf-in-the-mouth moment. Ha. Wonderful. (And no, this isn’t meant to be a clue about anything.)
I just feel it important to often re-read Jordan’s original writings to make certain I don’t let the characters voices stray.
Man, it’s been too long since I read through the WoT straight through. Elyas snuck up on Gaul? Totally forgot about that moment.
That might be the most challenging part of writing these books—the need to constantly be re-reading the originals to keep myself accurate.
Even then, I miss things. Witness my Bashere/Tenobia goof from the last book. Thank heaven for Maria and Alan.
Twelve more chapters to go in current Towers of Midnight revision. It’s going very well. I hope to have this section in Harriet’s hands by Jordancon.
Also, I want to say that YES the manuscript for The Way of Kings went in to Tor. A tad late, but it is done. Back to WoT!
I am revising a chapter of Towers of Midnight while I wait for my assistant to bring me papers to grade. Deadline to get the book in has been set: August 17.
Just cut about four pages off of a chapter of Towers of Midnight . Sorry. It’s for your own good.
To respond to questions: Towers of Midnight is still on schedule, though it will be very tight. I need to turn it in early August at the latest.
Whew. That chapter was very full of fat. Trimmed a lot.
About two hundred pages of Towers of Midnight revised; two hundred more in this part before I can write new material. Right now, one hour off for dinner.
Hope to get five more chapters revised tonight. That will place me in a position to do a new chapter tomorrow.
Back to work on Towers of Midnight ! Had a stomach bug over the weekend that slowed me down a little, but I’m fine now.
Finally back to writing new material for Towers of Midnight . Started a new chapter tonight.
Towers of Midnight was at 320k words. Dropped to 275k after merciless cutting of bad chapters. Now back up to 280k. Makes progress bar tough to estimate.
Getting ready to send a chunk of Towers of Midnight to Team Jordan. First, need to see if I spelled anyone’s name wrong. I’m looking at you, Gallenne.
Grr. Why do I always spell ‘ damane ‘ as ‘ demane ‘ instead? I’ve only written it a hundred times or so.
It’s off. 400 pages (about 80k words) sent for first reactions from Team Jordan. You can count this as the first step in turning in the book.
Very pleased with progress on Towers of Midnight during the last few days. Wish I could post specifics.
One of the chapters I cut from Towers of Midnight is going back in. (After some heavy revisions.)
Always pleasant to read back through chapters you wrote months ago and find they’re actually pretty good.
Yes, Wheel of Time Fans, I am indeed up a 4am working on your book. This section I’m editing now turned out really well.
Now at work on some last tweaks before sending the next chunk of Towers of Midnight to Team Jordan.
Writing new material for Towers of Midnight again today. Really need to update that progress bar, eh?
Here’s a better way to show you progress: I have sixteen scenes (some long, some short) that need to be written before the book is done.
For those keeping track, I have finished 2/16 last scenes I need to complete before Towers of Midnight is done.
Whew. Chapter done. Very tired. It was a scene you’ve been waiting a long time to read. No, not that one. And not that one either.
Also, just sent Towers of Midnight version 7.0 to Team Jordan. Getting close to a complete draft now. Eight scenes left to write.
Back at work on Towers of Midnight . I managed to get two of the shorter scenes done yesterday. Six more left. They’re longer ones, though.
Doing some reading in Crossroads of Twilight to catch up on something I need for the chapter I’m writing tonight. Let the speculation begin.
Jumped to first quarter of Knife of Dreams to continue research. Almost have what I need.
This chapter is starting to work now. Last one I’ll write before turning to a chunk of revisions.
Done. Whew. Last new writing on the book for a while, probably a week or two. Four or five scenes remaining. Must revise/prepare first.
I went ahead and moved the Towers of Midnight bar on my website up to 90%. Five scenes left to write, but a TON of revision on top of it.
Done with this group of revisions on Towers of Midnight . Now, the dreaded spellcheck.
Okay, spellcheck done, revisions sent in to Team Jordan. Things are looking very good for the Towers of Midnight deadlines.
Working on Towers of Midnight . Changing the text based on Team Jordan’s first round of comments on the finished portions.
Whew. 300 pages of Towers of Midnight edited today. 8.0 draft 1/3 of the way done. Should go back to Team Jordan by early next week. Maybe sooner.
Nine more chapters to revise this time through. Hopefully, they aren’t all as tough as this last one.
‘He stood there waiting for one of the Forsaken to leap out of the flames in the marble fireplace, or the earth to swallow the Palace…’
This is the kind of awesome line I love the WoT for. You miss it the 1st time, but years later, it blows your mind.
About 150 pages of 450 pages worth of my WoT rereading is done. The next sections I write will be the last new material for this book.
Hum. Slow going over the weekend. Maybe I need to find some more Magic cards to motivate myself.
Just began writing on one of the last chapters I need to do for the book.
Blarg. This chapter I’m revising is really rough. Needs a structural rewrite.
That chapter of Towers of Midnight I just wrote ends with a cliffhanger. Sorry about that. I pick it up soon, though, so you won’t have to wait long.
I promise this cliffhanger chapter isn’t the last one in the book. In fact, it’s closer to the front.
This wasn’t the final chapter of the book, which he wrote a while ago. This was the last chapter he had left to write, and it happens somewhere before the end of the book.
Are we to assume that the end of Towers of Midnight will NOT be a cliffhanger? You seemed eager to reassure us. Or RAFO?
RAFO. It was just that chapter I was talking about.
Okay, two new scenes left to write on Towers of Midnight . (Along with a lot of revision still to do.) I will write one of them tonight.
Do you try to write straight through a book from start to finish or do you write random bits and then put them together?
I usually write straight through, sometimes by plot line. But some books—like Towers of Midnight —don’t let me do that.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I have begun writing the final chapter for Towers of Midnight . Expect an “It’s done” post later today.
And…it is DONE! 359,000 words, 1800 pages in manuscript form. Nobody tell Tor. They asked me to try to keep it shorter. WHOOPS.
Note that I’m mostly joking about the length. Tor does prefer books shorter than 400k, but they’ve always let me write as long as needed.
And, just to warn you all, I WILL do my standard 10% cut on this book. So expect the final length to be around 320k or so. ( The Gathering Storm was 300k.)
Either way, the first draft of Towers of Midnight is done. We are now confirmed for an on-time release late October or early November 2010.
Joke from Harriet and Maria in margins of Towers of Midnight manuscript. Re: sealing the Bore. DON’T call BP.
The BP oil spill was fairly current news at the time.
Thank goodness for Maria and Alan. Every time I start to think I know the WoT world pretty well, they prove that I’ve got a long way to go.
Time for everyone’s favorite draft, the one where I cut 10-15% of the book, line by line. Towers of Midnight is at 362k words. Can I get it under 310?
14.5% cut from the first scene of Towers of Midnight . In reply, I’m hoping to have this done in ten days. Faster, if possible.
8.9% cut from next scene. Trust me, as I warn every time I post about this process, you DON’T want these words. This makes the book better.
Back at work. 14% or so cut from the next scene. These are various parts of the prologue, if you’re curious.
12.6% cut from the next scene. Two more to do in the prologue.
3.5% and 8.2% from next two [scenes]. Many are asking if I can, someday, show what I cut. Maybe someday.
This book belongs to Harriet, so releasing anything—even lists of cut words—must be done carefully. Easier to show you with The Way of Kings .
Hello first paragraph of Chapter One. I guess I’m not cutting any words from you….
Sigh. For those complaining that you don’t want me to cut the book at all, the next chapter GREW by 1.7%. Added more than I cut.
14% cut from next one. Editing is not much fun. Maybe I need to buy more Magic cards to motivate me. Open one pack per five chapters? Hm…
760 words cut from the next chapter. It’s a big one, though, so that’s only 12%.
Ever thought of doing unabridged i.e. not cut spec-eds of your books? It worked for King and Feist.
Thing is, none of these edits are forced on me. These are edits I want to do. If I were ever forced to cut, Maybe.
For @ramhiser and others wondering, I run a spreadsheet to tell me how much I’ve cut. I find if I measure, it makes me more rigorous.
12% and 15% on the next two chapters. The one coming up is one of the ones that needs the most work. Joy.
Lots of repeated description, passive language, and unneeded dialogue tags. Also, some distracting character ponderings.
Okay, major overhaul to that chapter is done. 8.5% cut, though that’s only a weak indication of the gutting—then rebuilding—it was given.
2% added to the next chapter. (Sigh.) 12% cut from the one after that. 5500 words total cut so far.
Back to editing. People are asking what chapter I’m on, but the chapters don’t have numbers yet. Order isn’t 100% nailed down yet either.
9% on the next chapter, then 15.5% on the next. (Which is one of my favorites, but needed a mighty trim anyway.)
Last for the night: 8%, 10.5%, 12% cut from three chapters. We are about 15% of the way through the draft. Going slower than I wanted.
1/2 of 1 % cut from the next chapter. Stated that way, it doesn’t seem like I’ve been doing anything for the last hour. (Had to add a lot.)
9.8% off the next chapter. That’s more like it.
10% cut from the next chapter; last for the night. Need some sleep.
Angry email today from someone telling me to stop ‘whining’ about Towers of Midnight ‘s length. Not whining, dude, just trying to push myself hard to edit.
The goal of this revision is to cut, not to add. I’ll do either one to help the book, but I set goals for myself and try hard to meet them.
The final book will be the length it must be. But during this edit, my mindset HAS to be “Cut” or I’ll get lazy and let bad language slide.
Short night working tonight. 7.31% cut from the next chapter. Have to get up early tomorrow. Can’t work as late as normal.
9.2% off of the next (very long) chapter. This revision is looking good so far.
4.6% off the next chapter. With some additions. In answer to a question: I am editing in order, not by character thread.
12.8% and 9.2% cut from the next two chapters. All goes well so far. Still a lot of work to do. (This is the 1/4 mark in the revision.)
15.3% and 12.3% cut from two chapters last night. 10k words cut so far. (Forgot to post this before I went to bed.)
Latest revision stats: 20%, 5.6%, and 8.4% cut from what will probably be chapters 25, 26, and 27 in Towers of Midnight .
Chapter 28 is the longest in the book, I think. I just cut 12.5% from it, and it’s still 8k words long.
Off to bed. 12%, 18%, 12% cut from latest chapters. Book is under 350k words now. About 35% through the revision.
14.3%, 14.7%, 13.7%, 15.2% cut from the last four chapters Really getting into the groove of editing now.
18%, 11%, 13% cut on next three. Whew. This is getting grueling. I’m gonna need to buy more Magic cards. (What? The logic works in my head.)
17% cut from the next chapter.
15% and 17% cut from the next two chapters, which means one more and I can open one of those packs of magic cards. Onward!
Whew. 9.5% cut from that chapter. I WOULD have to end up doing one of the longest ones in the book this time. Now, Magic cards!
Another beast of a chapter done. 12% cut. Why is it I write such long books, again? Anyway, one more chapter, and I get another pack.
13% on the next chapter. And, because I wanted to push on, I managed to do another. 16%. About halfway through the revision now.
21% and 16% cut from those two chapters tonight. And I’m going to open a pack of cards. ;)
Two chapters edited today: 22% and 14% cut.
5.5% cut from my first chapter edited today. Need to work hard the first part of the week, since ComicCon will steal a few days later.
15% cut, followed by 9% on the next chapter.
11% cut from the next chapter. At about 60% done now. Maybe a little more.
By the way, 9% cut from the last chapter. That was a tough one to revise.
Well, that was brutal. 71% cut from that chapter, the remaining bit spliced onto the end of the last chapter.
In revision, I’d decided to do what this chapter did in another chapter, and did it better there. So this one got gutted.
First airport chapter cut by 10%. One of my favorites in the book.
15% cut from the chapter I edited on the flight.
10% cut from the next chapter.
Blarg. This chapter is giving me all kinds of grief. Maybe I should just cut the whole thing. (Kidding.)
By the way, 17% cut from the first chapter I did today and 7% cut from the next one. 75% done, about 34k words cut from the book so far.
Well, 1% cut from that chapter. I had a request from Maria to add in a large chunk, which was the right suggestion.
12% off next chapter.
Okay, 16% cut.
8% cut from Chapter 80. In other news, the chapters have numbers now. 94 chapters in the book plus a multi-scene epilogue.
Chapter 81 is a heart-wrenching one. Maybe the one in the book I’m most proud of, despite its contents. Anyway, 18.5% cut from it.
Chapter 82—13% cut. I do think that some of these chapters may be combined before the end. I doubt the final book will have 94 chapters.
12.2% cut from the next chapter.
The ‘heart-wrenching’ scene was Aviendha’s second trip through the crystal columns.
Chapter 84: 13.5% cut. On a roll today, though perhaps it’s because the end of this stage is in sight.
8.3% cut off the next chapter. I think that means I did 8 chapters today, which is a record.
Another 8.3% on the next chapter.
All is coming together. Exchanged emails with Team Jordan. I suspect the final book will end up around 60 chapters, after combining scenes.
Also, 9.6% on the next chapter. 7+Epilogue remaining.
After what may be known as the Great Chapter Melding of 2010, I merged many shorter chapters together. Towers of Midnight is now 70 chapters long.
This feels like the right number to me. It may change by one or two from here, but I think we’re close to final.
Q: Has the chapter you mentioned earlier (the painful one that is one of your favorites) changed numbers now?
A: Yes. It’s #60 now.
Several of these last chapters are ones that need a lot of revision. So tonight is not going to go as quickly.
Chapter 66 increased in size by 2.5%. (Really, more like it increased by 10%, then I cut the chapter down.)
Whew. 67 edited. That took a lot of work. A lot added, a lot cut. End result: Cut by 7.8%. 3 chapters and epilogue left. (About 100 pgs.)
Heh. Line from Towers of Midnight said: “And Rand did such and such.” Brain keeps reading “Ayn Rand.” Did Goodkind sneak over and rewrite my manuscript?
5% cut from the last of the three ‘Needs special attention” chapters I just revised, added to, and edited. Gets easier from here out.
These are manuscript pages, so in print, that would be more like 50 pages.
Typed in new wordcount for chapter. Excel spreadsheet responds: Chapter size increased by 748%. Uh, think I left a number off somewhere…
After a typo fix in the spreadsheet: Chapter 69 cut by 15.2%. 50 [manuscript] pages left to revise.
Before I left, I almost got chapter 70 done. Finished now, 4% cut. I’ve been over it often in other drafts, and didn’t need as much a trim.
Onward to the epilogue; it’s 6k words long.
12% cut from first scene of the epilogue. Five to go.
6.8% cut from the next scene. Four to go.
Well, look at this. One last person in the epilogue I forgot to name. Glenn Bergevin. You’re in. 7% cut from the scene you are in.
13.9%. Two short scenes left.
12.2%. One more to go.
And…13.4% from the last scene. Book length is 320,286 words. 42,614 words cut. 11.7%. About 5k more than Knife of Dreams ; 4th longest in the series.
Hold off on celebrating TOO much, though. Needs a spellcheck, and a spot fix some problems Team Jordan has mentioned about earlier chapters.
Then it gets sent to a secret cabal of beta readers (no, you can’t join them. Sorry.) I spot fix problems they find, then a last quick draft.
Okay, new draft off to Team Charleston, and I can go sleep now. Tomorrow: More spot fixes.
Document in the hands of beta readers. Time is counting down to our deadline. Hope they read quickly…
Okay, I stayed up way too late (about 6:00am) getting the Towers of Midnight document to beta readers. Feeling worn out today. Will read for writing group.
Many are asking about how to become beta readers. Well, it’s different for my own books than it is for WoT…
For WoT, Harriet’s in charge; the betas are people she trusts and knows. For myself, it varies by book. Usually people I know, though.
Onward. Need to get a tweaked draft of Towers of Midnight to Harriet tomorrow. Two weeks left on our deadline to get the final, final draft to Tor.
Going through Towers of Midnight and adding chapter names/icons (both chosen by Harriet) and combining chapters at her direction.
With the newly combined chapters, which is the sad chapter that you had said was number 60?
Don’t know yet. I have to check with Harriet on a few more combinations before I will have a final chapter total.
Today’s task: Going through Towers of Midnight and giving italics/cap letters to in world terms. (And taking away caps from others that I got wrong.)
Ditto. (Re-tweet)
Working on epigraphs for Towers of Midnight right now.
Q: Now that the chapters have been changed around, what is the new number of chapter 81? (The one you said was one of your favorite?)
A: That is now chapter 50. It should remain there.
Good question: @graphicbin_sean asks “Who chooses the scenes for the cover art for WoT? How about Towers of Midnight ?”
A: Harriet usually picks. I picked the scenes for Towers of Midnight and A Memory of Light , though, as we had to get them painted before Harriet read the books.
Who writes the [glossary] entries at the back of every WoT book?
Maria does those.
Okay, up bright and early (well, for me) and starting work on the Towers of Midnight final draft. Need to do 10% of it today at the minimum.
A visit from an old friend from out of town slowed me, but I’m back on track. 1% down so far. Going to be a long week…
5% done. At least that much left to go today.
Okay, 6%. Hit a little patch that needed some extra work, thought, and rewriting. Pleased with it now.
9% done on the last Towers of Midnight revision. Looking good, though Peter tells me I should try for 14% a day if I want to hit Monday’s goal.
Today’s 10% done; will keep going. (Note, these percentages aren’t cuts, like last time. This is how far through the book I am.)
Okay, 12% done today. Will go to bed now. Trying to sleep a little earlier/rise a little earlier this week.
Towers of Midnight update: 15% of the final revision done, despite Limeboy climbing in my lap and insisting that I show him Spongebob on the computer.
17% of the revision done so far. (5% so far today.)
19% done so far. (7% today) Had a bit of a slow down with a scene I needed to add, but am through that and moving onward.
Question from Peter on Facebook: Is this final revision final? If you’re adding scenes, won’t there be more touch-up?
A: After this is turned in, the book goes to copyedit & proofreads. Small things can be fixed/changed then. You could call those ‘drafts.’
I don’t see them that way, as this is my last full read-through the book. Maria will do the copyedit approvals. I may still tweak, though.
Just hit 24% edited so far on the Towers of Midnight final revision. Whew. Still an hour or so left to go today.
27% done on the revision, 3% finished so far today.
30% done, 6% today. Approaching the 1/3 mark. Time is running out, though. I foresee a long day next Monday, pushing through to the end.
33.5% done as of this last scene. 1/3 down. Producer Jordo is on his way home and I’m back at editing.
By the way, got to 37% last night before I crashed. Back up and working on it again now.
41% edited so far in the book. Halfway point in sight. Might hit it tonight.
Quick note. 46% done.
Okay, guys, I know this is tragic to hear…but your book needs a new scene. Out of rewriting mode. Into new writing mode. (Sigh.)
New scene done. (Wasn’t very long; added it to the end of another scene.) Onward with editing.
And…small drum roll…50%. Took me four days. At this rate, taking Sunday off, I will be done Tuesday instead of Monday. We shall see.
Ending tonight at 51%. Spent some of my time going back and looking over the new scene, giving it a few drafts. Night, all.
Back to work on Towers of Midnight . Canceled Writing Group tonight to get more time. Goal for today is to get to 66%.
Hm. This scene needs better description. Well, off to the Big White Book to do a little research on how the area should look…
For those following along, the scene that I cut from Towers of Midnight , then found a way to add back in, is now in chapter 30.
At 53% so far today. Man, I need to step it up, eh? Not sure what is causing me to go so slowly today. Only 2% so far.
Okay, at 55%. Much better progress through this hour.
How do you determine that a book needs another scene, especially so late in the process?
Just instincts. Something needed to be added to properly pace the narrative.
I don’t suppose you’d be willing to give us a hint on what was so important that you needed to add a new scene this late?
It’s less that it was super important, and more I felt a new scene would smooth things.
Oh, and at 62%. Not sure if I’ll hit that 66% mark or not.
Okay, 64% will have to be the end for tonight. 5am. Seems like a good time for bed.
What am I doing? I’m most certainly NOT adding two more quick scenes to Towers of Midnight . Why do you ask? (Hides under his bed, keeps typing.)
Okay, completely rewrote a section of a climactic scene that I wasn’t satisfied with, and two new scenes added to enhance it. Much better.
Hope Team Jordan doesn’t kill me for adding this so late. Note, none of these were added ‘just because.’ I really felt the book needed them.
Ha! Just looked at the new Beta reader file, and it includes a suggestion for a new scene…doing exactly what I just added on my own today.
Okay, new scenes are looking good.
So what do the beta readers do? Are they pretty much editors like Harriet and look to see how book flows or what?
Betas are like a test audience. Like the kind you’d pre-screen a movie for before releasing it.
All right. Sunday’s over, and the last push has begun. Book is due ASAP. Let’s get this thing done.
75% of the final rewrite of Towers of Midnight is done.
78%. Normally, 4:00 would be time to go to bed, but I took a nap today to get me ready for the long haul. Onward we go, then.
At about 85% from the work over night. Is that the sun? Hello.
At the 90% mark on the Towers of Midnight final draft.
Still here. 93%. Going a little slower than I was earlier in the night, but still determined to make deadline.
94% And a thunderstorm rolls past. (looks upward.) Thanks. Very narratively appropriate.
95% done. Note: though it seems I’m coming down to the wire, know that if I weren’t confident the book were right, I’d have pulled it.
I went into this revision knowing that we were almost there. I wouldn’t release the book at almost, though, regardless of consequences.
96% I am feeling very good about the things I have fixed in this draft. This is going to be a great book.
97% done. The end is in sight, folks.
98%.
99%.
Ladies and gentlemen…last draft is done. Towers of Midnight is set for an on-time release, November 2nd.
And it is off. Last draft sent to Team Jordan for a final review. They will have some final questions/tweaks for me when I wake up.
I will do those tonight after I wake up from crashing, then will send the book to Tor so it is in by the time people get to work tomorrow.
Okay, back up. Now for the “epilogue” of finishing the last draft—looking through last moment comments from Team Jordan on what I changed.
And at 1:00, my tireless assistant Peter (Ahlstrom) just left the office (my basement) for home. His copyedit of Towers of Midnight is done.
And…six hours later…all of the final notations by Team Jordan are done. And now, everyone’s favorite activity. The Last Spellcheck!
Going over Table of contents…adding glossary…
And the file is off to Tor. Final version crept up to 328,000 words (with the new scenes) and is 57 chapters + a prologue and epilogue.
Okay, back at the computer after a few days of relaxing and spending time with the family. Working on a blog post about Towers of Midnight .
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