Currently editing Chapter 32 of 68. Manuscript word count: 204,571.
“Quality over quantity!”
This is what I’m telling myself as I slog along with edits, revisions, and rewriting. I had honestly thought I could finish editing the entire book by the last week of January. Next week is the last week. And… finishing doesn’t seem entirely realistic.
I’m not down on myself for this. Normally I would be, but in this case, I can truly say I’ve been putting as much effort as I can into finishing this project, and I’m honestly going as fast as I am capable of going.
Now there is something I don’t often get to say, so I think it bears saying again: For once in my life, I am going as fast as I am capable of going on this project.
The last few chapters have been slow because I’ve had to do some major rewriting of key scenes, and that simply takes time and careful work. It makes me think of surgery… I’m performing surgery on a novel. Sometimes you can have a bone saw out and hack away. Other times, the work is delicate and precise. You must cut in exactly the right place, and you must ONLY cut away what requires cutting away.
That simply takes time.
And geez, I’m giving it all the time I can. I only edited an hour and a half today, but I also did this:
- A presentation due Tuesday
- A paper due Tuesday
- Finalized lesson plans (and materials) for Monday
- Cooked myself lunch
- A much-needed long walk on the beach with a friend
- Did all my laundry, including folding and putting away (usually my downfall)
- Grocery shopping
- Cooked myself dinner, then cleaned the kitchen
- … oh, and I’m writing this blog post, too!
So you know what? I’m adulting like a boss. I didn’t procrastinate even one little bit today.
Let’s finish with a photo of the beach in January:
2 Comments
Kris Walls · January 27, 2020 at 8:05 am
You are killing it and working so hard. Don’t run yourself ragged. We will still be here however long it takes to finish soldier.
ryan · January 27, 2020 at 3:43 pm
That seems like great progress. Especially for a student who is also a teacher.
When did you say you would have it published this month? I thought in your post where you proudly announced that you had finished the first draft that you would probably have it published in February. You said the middle and then in your next post you moved it up to the end of February.
That seems like a reasonable goal. Damn, you have almost half of it already edited. So dont’ be too hard on yourself
you edit it yourself?