DWinchester
patreon
Better is a Process
🕑 Added 2025-05-30 14:00:06 +0000 UTCHello everyone. I’ve been pretty busy lately writing (as always) and doing online classes (only nine more left before I finish this degree!) Still, I wanted to pop in with a few updates. Though I’ve kept my writing output high, I’ve primarily focused on editing this month.
Part of this is for my work on my Tenebroum book 5 edit, which I’ve just finished, and my Letter of the Law book 1 rewrite, which remains ongoing. I’ve also been working a lot on short stories, with a focus on improving old shorts rather than writing new ones in an effort to tighten up my prose.
I don’t post my short stories here, but I regularly post them on Discord for feedback if you want to look. For the past few weeks, I’ve been trying to up my verb game and reduce the amount of passive voice in my writing.
For example, the other morning, I took a hatchet to an older story I wrote early last year. When I went through it, I eliminated 80 instances of was/were in a 5,000-word story, which shows the growth I’ve achieved in the last few months of diligently focusing on this stuff.
I had a recent comment on Royalroad that really says it all.
Writing so much is really starting to show some results. So, for anyone waiting for me to rewrite the early parts of Death After Death or any of my other books, give me some time and I will get there. Eventually, I’ll make that prose shine, too. I actually plan to cut back my output next year to prioritize editing my backlog. That won't decrease my current post frequency, though it will likely delay the launch of anything new for a while as I focus on finishing things instead of starting them.
My particular focus lately is on trying to finish the circled books. Once they are done, I will have a lot more time to polish instead of draft.
(Note: Those wordcount targets are estimates. Death After Death especially seems to be a bit of a moving target for where the story finally ends. Brewing Bad seems well set to end as a trilogy, but Bloodstained Blade hasn't yet decided if it wants to keep going into a fourth book or not. While I always start my books with an ending in mind, sometimes I choose a better ending a bit further away instead.)
Comments
D. Winchester
That's very kind. Thank you!
Rawnee
I always felt that you have the perfect mix of descriptive text without it overflowing. whenever i do a re-read i can visibly see your style sharpening and improving with every chapter. Keep up the goo work
D. Winchester
Thank you. That's great to hear. My style has come a long way from where I started writing earnestly 3 years ago. I think it's in a really good place now. I just need to tighten up a few verbal ticks, passive voice, etc.
Sanetless
Started editing for another author, and they started showing really fast improvements once I showed them where their issues were. Honestly, I love your writing style for Bloodstained Blade thus far. As someone that's read more mature novels since they were 12, it's hit a sweet spot for me.
_Sky_
Well, looking forward to it for sure 🙌
Persepolis
Just wanted to say I love your work Mr. Winchester, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy whatever you choose to do
