The edit took me far longer than it should have, almost a month and a half.

I lost my job. Moved. Found a new job. Moved again. Met someone new. (none of this is the edit's fault.)

There was a brief moment where I thought about canceling the rest of this project. I am glad that I did not. I look forward to writing new material again,starting later tonight.

I re-read the entire story that I have written so second edit came to 85 or 86 pages. The first edit was 90 pages. I didn't plan that. It was a coincidence that the two edits are so close together in size.

I didn't change anything in the first four chapters. (aka the first edit.) Those chapters have become eye-sores. It is weird looking back at them. They feel like relics from a time when I was still grasping at writing straws, even though it was only about 5 months ago.

Chapters 5 and 6 got the largest overhaul. The overall word count of the project grew by roughly six thousand. (That is close to 10%) A large portion of those words were dedicated to flushing out both Kristen and Fernando's portions of 5 and 6. It became increasingly clear that those characters were going to mean something going forward into the story.

Chapter 7 reads better now. Victoria and David's motivations and thoughts are more apparent. Added some stuff on their car ride into Arcadia Bay that would set up where the plot might go in the future.

Chapter 8 actually had writing cut from it. Chapter 8 is my largest chapter to date. I got a bit too indulgent with the characters to see what worked and what didn't. I ended up cutting the drinking story-line. Sunday is already going to be the most bloated day in the story, it was unfocused.

The proposal scene is far better because of the cut, much more focused.

I know now what the purpose of the weekend was. The weekend itself needed to cement Max and Chloe not only as individuals that could survive the mental fallout of the events of Life is Strange, but also as a couple that could theoretically lead happy lives afterward. Both of them know who they are and what they want. When I do a third and final edit much later this year (September?) I fully intend to re-write the first four chapters again keeping that goal in mind. (Those chapters bug me so much. They are chock full of passive voice structure.)

I don't expect even 5% of you to go back and read through this entire story again, that would be an insane demand. Just know that the new stuff is coming now!

I am deploying a new standard for myself. I am making myself edit each chapter in depth before releasing them into the wild. Hopefully there won't be a need for another long drawn out edit like this. Each new chapter written should, in theory, be as well written or better than the material present in this second round of editing.

Now I get to write all the fun stuff! Arcadia Bay mysteries and the exploration of extended cast characters. I get to threaten the total destruction of the main characters I spent so long cementing together and give my readers a stomach ache in the process! How Fun! 3