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The 2nd draft stood at roughly 80,000 words after removing 20,000 words, give or take, from where it stood after the 1st draft. This time the edit seemed to go in reverse as I developed connections, elaborations, new scenes, etc… and added almost 25,000 words to the total.

In the New Year the scissors will be out again for the 4th draft. Speaking of which, my father’s father was a barber during the Great Depression. He was, by all accounts – and as I can attest, a frightening man although he did feed his family during perilous times. My father ended up with his barbershop gear and, much to my displeasure, put them to use on Saturday mornings. That doesn’t really have anything to do with editing the 4th draft. But of course it does.

Update: As of today (1/3/2021) the 3rd draft (which I thought was complete) has grown to 131,287 words. Which means the next draft/edit will take longer than anticipated although I don’t know why I anticipated anything at all. The story-idea hasn’t wanted to stop although I think (hope) now it has.