Hi all - sorry for the long hiatus. My day job has conspired to keep me away from all things extracurricular this summer, but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things!
That said, I'm contending with a different kind of monster at the moment - the monster of my current draft. I've been away from this project for a while now, and it's time that we meet again. It's time that I print out my novel-in-progress and sit down with a red pen and start diligently making notes about what I should fix and rework. But wait - I have to do laundry. And buy groceries. And maybe this evening I'll bake a batch of cookies for no apparent reason...Yeah, I think you get the picture. There are some real life issues that keep me away from this book (My full time job for one, plus a distracting little book entitled Mockingjay) but that doesn't entirely solve the issue. Were all things to miraculously disappear from my schedule and I was packed off to some writer's retreat in a sufficiently pretty woodland region with nothing to distract me - well, I would be thrilled, but I think I would also be terrified of what I would find on the printed page. The words that are trying - and failing - to evoke what I see in my head.
So, I think I'll give myself a deadline: one week to get my act together, get back to blogging regularly (mea culpa) and then get on with it. And now I've made this statement public so I'll have to stick to it. Or else bake more cookies. It's really a toss up.
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I feel for ya, Alisa. I had such a fun summer vacation that it's hard getting back in the groove. I also finished a huge project, and felt that I deserved a break. But too long a break is not good in terms of impetus. Selling my books at the Brooklyn book festival helped put a fire under me, and hopefully my writing group today will turn up the flame. Good luck in revising your mss.
ReplyDeleteAlisa, when you start reading, I bet you'll find that you really like it, and you'll get excited to get back into it. I think that taking a break is so useful for revision. You can come to the manuscript with fresh eyes, and all kinds of little things jump out at you. But also, you see afresh all the things you loved about your story. Don't worry! It'll come. (But if you need help consuming cookies, say the word!)
ReplyDeleteWriting group magic. It worked!
ReplyDeleteAnd, yeah, Amy's right about looking at something with "new eyes."
You'll figure it out!