Writing The Wedding that Changed Everything: Week Thirteen

I kept a little diary while writing my eighth book, The Wedding That Changed Everything, which I'll be sharing on the blog during the run up to publication.

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Draft 2

I think this is the quickest second draft I've ever done, but having a looming deadline really helps you pull your socks up! Also, because of all the planning I'd put in before I started writing the book, there wasn't too much shifting of scenes.

Last week, I discovered the 'Read Aloud' option in Word, which I found helps to flag up any little errors. This week, I figured out how to adjust the reading speed (it wasn't hidden - it's right there near the play button. I'm just clearly a bit dense) and although it was still a bit slower than I'd read myself (the next speed was too fast!) it was a great help and kept me focused.

One of the major jobs I had to do with this draft was weed out the overuse of swears - and there was a lot of weeding to do. There were a few little niggles to sort out along the way too: a minor character changing names part-way through, a character having lived in Denmark at the beginning of the book, only for the country to switch to Switzerland towards the end etc.

During the first draft, there was a particular scene that I struggled with. It didn't feel right, no matter how long I sat at my desk with it, but I powered through somehow. And do you know what I did with it during the second draft? Yup, I deleted it. The whole scene. Almost a thousand words. I didn't know whether to weep at the time I'd wasted on it or relish pressing the delete button!

With the niggles and most of the swears taken care of, the book is now in much better shape so I've sent it off to my editor - bang on time for the deadline. The next stage will be the first round of edits, but I'm going to have a little rest before they land.

Words I've Cut

3,995

Weeks It Took Me To Write The Book:

12 (excluding a little holiday to Blackpool in the middle)

Final Word Count

92,582

Love happens when you least expect it…

Emily Atkinson stopped believing in fairy tales a long time ago! She’s fed up of dating frogs in order to track down her very own Prince Charming, despite the best efforts of her matchmaking best friend…

But now she’s been invited to the wedding of the year at the enchanting Durban Castle, and perhaps bumping into a knight in shining armour isn’t as far away as she thought!

Will Emily survive the wedding and walk away an unscathed singleton – or finally find her own happily-ever-after?





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