Chapter 3 was sooooo much easier to edit, breezy and took just a bit over 5h. A 3.5k words chapter is sooo much easier to wrangle than a beast that grew to nearly 10k XD Having said that, re-reading beta feedback, a couple of people did say that C3-C5 specifically felt not exactly "slow" but like it was only setup for the rest... This feels like pacing/stakes stuff which I'm too close to the text to easily see right now. I'm hoping that the big restructuring work I did at the start of this round (also based on beta feedback, thanks again!) will help in that the larger story's stakes get raised in a more proper crescendo now, rather than go "grumbles, grumbles, grumbles, SUDDEN FIRE EXPLOSION KABOOM" as they did in the previous draft. Also I'm fleshing out more secondary characters and connecting in small ways various background happenings, and I'm hoping that will also help hold up the reader's interest better. Hoping, hoping.

I'm having a good time and enjoying the process, which is rare enough for editing that it's worth saying! Things are actually quite strange right now. My "lighthearted" project when I need a break is fic for a new-to-me fandom, and so I don't know the characters very well yet. I had a full outline written up in a sort of a draft 0 way, with sentence fragments, bits of dialogue, and so on. When I work on it, I'm making all of this into proper prose but it's very plot-focused and lacking a bit of heart at the moment (I'll fix that in edits later!). So I'm not getting the same catharsis I usually get out of writing.

Meanwhile, a lot of the editing I'm doing right now is possible because I've refined the motivations both of the MC and of so many characters around her. So while I'm only adding a couple of paragraphs here and there, or a sentence to hint at more, there's a lot more heart going into it and I feel like I'm getting the kind of, hm, mental wellbeing boost? deep inner satisfaction? that I usually get from writing.

Additionally, I feel like I'm getting to know the MC a lot better, and the fondness I have for her only grows and grows. It's a nice place to be. I've wondered a few times if I should have gotten feedback earlier, but because of the way this particular story was written, I don't think it would have worked well. The first draft required so many changes including a personality transplant for the other main character so let's not even consider it. After the first round of edits (structural), while I had the plot and main relationship nailed down, the world was utterly empty. I had described no setting. The worldbuilding was barebone beyond anything that directly moved the story. Not a very interesting tale to read, and that would have easily confused what were the other necessary fixes that came up during the actual beta-reading, of the kind I did need an external perspective on.

I'm really, really enjoying what this round of editing is changing in the story. I really hope that when I'm done and have taken a step back, it all looks like well done embroidery on a tapestry, and not like haphazard patchwork on a story corpse 😅 Gently holding this feeling into my palms until I hit the next editing road bump... XD

Via fandomcalendar, there is a "AO3 is down" drabble event/prompt fest happening over at ao3_isdown if you'd like to pass the time there during AO3's maintenance window :D

Edit: And linky points to more resources as well :)