This is K.M. Wyland and you are listening to the 396 episode of the Helping Writers Become Authors Podcast.

This week I finished up the first act in my portal fantasy sequel work in progress dreambreaker.

As always with my novels it clocked out longer than I was hoping at 48,000 words

which means I'm on track for another 200,000 word first draft.

But I've had a lot of fun with it, and I cannot wait to dive into the second act where things really heat up and my two leads are finally back in the same room together.

But first I get to do my usual quarterly edit.

I always stop after every major plot point and go over what I've written up to this point.

Not only does this help me keep the draft tidy, but more particularly it grounds me in the

overall story so far. This includes the details of what I've written,

the overall tone, and just general reassurance, hopefully, that it's all coming together

the way I want it to.

These edits are always one of my favorite parts of the first draft,

since they're a little break in the midst of the heavy duty writing,

and also just a chance to wallow in my story world.

So that's what I'll be doing for the next couple days.

And now I hope you enjoyed this week's podcast. Five tips for writing a righteous character readers can relate to.

It ain't easy being green, but sometimes it's even harder being good.

When you think of great characters in books and movies, those who pop to mind are often people of moral complexity.

Youngsters coming of age in a complicated world.

Anti-heroes, haunted by their own dark natures.

Wounded souls fighting not to succumb to the evil inflicted by others, and sometimes

just plain psychotic wackos.

...