Digging in.

Sometime in the next week I'm going to start some revisions on KILLER CUPCAKES.  Obviously I've done revisions before because you don't send a book out to agents without revising, but these are different and pretty important.  I'm actually really excited about digging back into that book because a) I miss those characters a lot and b) I like making my book better.  I've also been working on WIP 1 and WIP 2, but these revisions have been on my mind. A lot.

I pulled out (and dusted off) some of my old style books, read through grammar books and am trying to soak up as much information as possible to make sure that I'm ready to make these revisions count.  These are all things that I've studied before, first as a Communications major and then as a Liberal Studies major but a little refresher can't hurt.  In life, I'm not a grammar freak, (Please, don't be shocked as you read this and find errors. ha!) but I do try to find obvious issues when I read and write.  But like I said, these revisions are important.  So I'm pulling out my fine-tooth comb and referencing Grammar Girl constantly to make sure I'm doing a good job.

I've hit up the library too, just trying to find advice from other authors. I'm trying to read every blog and every tip on Twitter.  I'm also at the end of a narrative class this semester and I have LOVED that class.  I registered for that one at a good time.  As my high school English teacher would say, I'm turning into a spunge.  I'm soaking up everything I can get my hands on to make sure I'm the best writer I can be.

I've had good experiences so far with KILLER CUPCAKES.  I've gotten a lot of good feedback and have had great talks with agents about how good it is, but also how much better it can be.  So I feel good about my book, but I'm also very determined to make it one million times better.  And it's not only that, I'm working on two other books and I want them to be two million times better than KILLER CUPCAKES.  No pressure!

So I'm immersing myself in writing.  Digging in.

So, what about you?  What do the four (I joke. There might be five.) of you do to make yourselves better?  Do you have any tips and tricks that you can spare?

Oh and quickly, I'm going to actually talk about what KILLER CUPCAKES is about soon. (Hint: not a killer baked good)  I'll also talk a little bit about my other two WIPS soon as well.

Also, does anybody know where I can get a good word counter for my blog? I want one really, really bad.

-Brandy