I have reached the midpoint of my editing on Timshel, which can only mean one thing: time for the bandits to show up! Every story should have bandits.
I think one of my biggest challenges as an author is to learn a little patience. There are character authors who spend languid pages on introspection and personal history; there are setting authors who worldbuild like crazy and describe every detail; and then there are plot authors, who know every labyrinthine twist and b-plot.
Every group has its strengths and weaknesses. As a plot-oriented author, I think the biggest weakness of my group is impatience. Everything exists to serve the plot; as such, we tend to rush through the characters and details in order to get to the next plot point. I certainly see myself doing that.
Among published novels, I think the last Hunger Games book, "Mockingjay," was particularly guilty of this: it had two hands full of really interesting plot points and ideas, but (imo) had no idea where to plant them. I kept wanting to tell author Suzanne Collins to slow the frell down and actually explore the ideas she'd raised rather than hurrying on to the next one.
As a consequence much of my editing time has been spent expanding beats and characters that I had only sketched out in the first draft. The ideas are there, I just need to take the time to develop them.
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