Anise, Occult P.I., Stakin' the Forsakin' Since '87

NOVEMBER EDITING, DAY 22: Another good day of work! Slow work! But lots of it! We ticked off a lot of to-do items in this single conversation AND described the Heroine!

It was one of my Horse Girl jokes, too :(

When editing, I keep reminding myself that my readers will never miss shit I've cut. I had to do this again today because I realised I have to cut out one of my favourite jokes.

Anyway, happy to have finally left that conversation behind me. I've been fighting with it for two days. It's pretty ragged now that I've sucked all the sponteneity out of it, but hey! That's a problem for Line Editor Anise!

Yes, when I mentally admonish myself there are many exclamation points!

Maybe I'll never include it and that's okay! It's not actually important! I do not have to include every single thing I think of!

Really, the biggest difficulty was not front-loading the Heroine slutting it up (a backstory note which I've thought of frequently but STILL never actually described). This close to the Male Lead's introduction, it feels... like a little too much.

The word 'penetrate' was deployed, very thoughtfully. Hey, not all of my metaphors have to be subtle, right?

I'm not terribly satisfied with her description, but it'll do for now and anyway I don't have to go too deeply into describing her body because lord knows the Male Lead does that for me (albeit VERY late in the game)

NOVEMBER EDITING, DAY 22: Another good day of work! Slow work! But lots of it! We ticked off a lot of to-do items in this single conversation AND described the Heroine!

"the writer's barely-disguised fetish" WRONG, all my fetishes are out in the open and actively make what i write even better

That bird looks so juicy! Ours is always burnished and beautiful and dry as a fucking BONE -__- Oh, well. Side dish supremacy, after all. Happy Friendsgiving!

The Look was IT for me, but my favourite moment might actually be in TLJ, where Kylo's screaming for everyone to attack and no one does shit until Hux clarifies what his boyfriend is yelling about and Kylo looks at him like, ' 🥺 thank u'

NOVEMBER EDITING, DAY 21: 'Do NOT line edit,' I whisper-scream to myself, agonising over word choices in paragraphs which will probably be cut

But I've been HORRIBLY WRONG BEFORE

And when things go slowly (as they are going, VERY slowly), I also remind myself that it's really only the first third (or half) of the fic that's this rough. After I reconfigured the plot, I had a lot fewer notes. I think the first setpiece is going to be the last of the big edits, too.

The line editing thing is a real struggle, though. I have to keep reminding myself to do the big edits first because otherwise any line edits will get swallowed up by my moving things around and be meaningless.

Also, she doesn't do coke anymore. For plot reasons. Sorry

a woman is smiling and holding a book with the words she 's my best baby below her Alt: A woman sassily saying, 'She's my best baby.'

I also inserted some necessary thematic and backstory information (you guys like estate law, right? On page four? I think it'll really draw the readers in) and made the Heroine less mouthy. That's the Male Lead's job! She'll always be a sassy-molassy in my heart, though.

I'm joking a bit; editing went much better today! I cut together my old and new beginnings and moved on to the next scene, where I replaced a character with a canon one I didn't remember existed at the time I drafted it. Remember when I used to NOT CARE? Those were the days!

NOVEMBER EDITING, DAY 21: 'Do NOT line edit,' I whisper-scream to myself, agonising over word choices in paragraphs which will probably be cut

Pets wrapped in blankets IS the purpose of life

I finally started getting rid of them when I started swapping perfumes with people. Throw a few in the box and GOODBYE FOREVER

Kylo Ren’s saber standing next to the First Order symbol, resembling a “10.”

Ten glorious years. Here’s to ten more! 🎉🥂 #Kylux

This is PEAK but I also quote the SNL Undercover Boss Kylo skit way too often (even if it isn't actually kylux)

I think this was EVERYONE'S origin story? Like, we were all totally knocked sideways by one slutty look from Domhnall

I have long since given up trying to understand what your kids are and aren't afraid of. They're all over the map

Pity there's no Christmas episode, but we still gotta tick that box in the near future. There is no way you won't like this lil guy (and his basset hound)

Big ups to the Phan who did today's Youtube Doodle of Erik and Christine making out and Raoul nowhere to be fucking seen

NOVEMBER EDITING, DAY 20: In which I wrote a little, then realised I hated all of it EVEN MORE than the stuff it was replacing.