High Point

Two things have happened recently.
1. Word Nerd's been reading Jacqueline Carey's "Kushiel's Mercy" and has decided once again that this is one of the series that she wants her books to be like when they grow up.
2. Word Nerd's been editing chapters 20-22 of her book, which are smack dab in the middle of the book.

And this is what she learned from these two things.

Exciting things happen at the middle of books. In Carey's there were several huge chapters right at the halfway mark of the book, a sort of first plot climax for what had gone on in the first 300 pages.

In Word Nerd's chapters 20-22, exciting things happen! This was a thrilling discovery after slogging through rewrites on chapter 16 a few weeks ago. Realizing that Word Nerd's work did what Jacqueline Carey (and plenty of others did) was a huge boost, making her feel like she really does know she's doing.

It's like the writing equivalent of getting over Wednesday... the first part of the book, while exciting, is setting the stage, introducing the characters, building the foundation for the plot. Then, halfway through, there's a tipping point and everything starts racing toward the end.

Seeing this is Word Nerd's own work was a thrill and is inspiring her onward in the editing!