Do you ever have those weeks that, when you get to the other end of them, feel like the past seven days were actually only one day? That’s what I feel like right now. It’s like I blinked, and BOOM: one day I was writing about my excitement over the LOST premiere, and then the next day (or, um, almost a week later) here I am wondering how I managed to take an unintentional week-long hiatus from blogging.
So. I’m back, and I missed everyone! I spent some of this morning catching up on posts I hadn’t read yet (for example, check out Merrilee’s latest on dealing with criticism: it’s greatness!). The rest of the morning, I wore my yellow rainboots (both literal and figurative) since our parking lot is a river in this weather, and also since I’m still muddling through Phase One of Project: Edit.
Though I didn’t finish reading by Friday like I hoped I would, I don’t have too much more to do to finish out Phase One. The Plan (detailed in this post) is going well. My colored pens have not yet dried out, my spiral notebook isn’t in such pristine shape anymore, and I have thoughts of all sorts on how to make this thing better. The pacing is more even than I thought it was, my plots and sub-plots are woven pretty well, and I haven’t seen too many loose ends just yet. As suspected, the scenes are getting better as I read – they aren’t as skeletal as they were toward the beginning of the draft. There are definitely areas that need work, but by and large it’s a huge improvement over the first draft.
Anyway! Time to get back to work if I want to put a bigger dent in today’s to-do list. Better slip back into my cute yellow rainboots and grab my adorable new umbrella.
(FYI, the umbrella is a floral print of hot pink and yellow, with a navy blue backgrount: matches gray skies and yellow rainboots perfectly!)
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Revision Update, Phase One | 245 pages down, 91 to go | 72.9% finished!
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Owl and Sparrow 
What a cute picture you paint with your rain boots and umbrella. I absented myself for a few days as well, equally unintentional. But I wasn’t editing. Glad you’re making great progress and the ms is in better shape than you thought.
Oh, and I really liked Merilee’s post too and tweeted a link to it.
Thanks! I decided to add a picture of the boots/umbrella because they’re so sunny and fun. 🙂 Admittedly, I didn’t spend that entire time editing…I may or may not have hosted a (ridiculously long) LOST Season 1 marathon on Friday…hehehe That distraction did manage to motivate me, though (only because I couldn’t believe how much time I HADN’T spent editing, haha)!
Yes, I saw that you tweeted a link to it, too – really good post. Did you have a good unintentional break?
I had to come back to see the pic. I always wanted boots like that. 🙂
And no, it wasn’t a good break, but I’m working on it.
You go, girl! It’s good to see you making good progress. I’ve been making SLOW progress, but at least I’m learning big kahoona mucha from the whole process of inching through my first draft and figuring out what I have on paper, what it MEANS, and what I want it to mean.
And I love the rainboots and umbrella. I think I could use a set! Except we’re BURIED in snow. I’m supposed to be across town at work today, but it was a no, no, big no-go.
Now, I’m off to go read the post you linked to. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Megs! I totally identify with what you wrote in your comment. I feel like my progress is going slow, too (missing two deadlines ≠ fast), but I’m learning a TON about what I have v. what I hope to have.
I got the boots and the umbrella at Old Navy, by the way – though you’re right, they probably wouldn’t do too much to help you dig yourself out of the snow. 🙂 I wish it snowed here more often, but I can see how those of you who get it all the time are probably so ready for it to go! Have a great day not being at work!
Having TOO much fun. Need to get off the internet and go work!
I keep reading how you’re getting on with editing, and hoping it will inspire me to start on draft two of mine. I just can’t seem to be able to do anything on it. I might copy you and add a progress report to the bottom of my posts – that might make me take action.
On a totally different note, I used to love Old Navy when I was out in the US. I miss it!
Yes – I bet it would make you take action! It’s encouraging when things are going well; if you fall behind, it’s still good, because it’s much harder to disregard a goal when you know other people are aware of it. And, I like it because it’s a clear-cut picture of how much I’ve done and how much I have left to do (of course, page numbers and word count alone don’t really tell you ‘how much’ work there is, since some scenes will be harder to write/read than others…but anyway, it’s a good general measure).
I guess there are a couple of other things you could do about your sagging motivation…on one hand, you could start on a totally different project and then come back around to the second draft; on the other, you could stick with it. One thing I did when I was feeling stuck was to write in my journal all the reasons I’m writing my book. Sounds like it wouldn’t take a very long time; it surprised me how many reasons I had to write it, though, and how weighty they were. When I finished that journal entry, I was like, “Huh. Where’s my computer? I want to write!” It was really motivating.
Anyway. Sorry for the long comment! 🙂 Good luck!
It sounds as though everything’s going along super with your edits. Many strange and wonderful things can happen during this phase.
Oh, and I really have to say I love the boots!!What a fun colour..
Yes! Just yesterday, while reading, I was struck with an idea for how to majorly change one aspect for the better. It caught me off-guard, and I’m still surprised I never saw it before. Just goes to show you that no matter how well you think you know your story, or your characters, you can still be surprised by things.
Thanks, about the boots – they’re especially fun because I got them for $7 instead of the original $20 or so. Also especially fun because now my feet don’t have to swim in nasty parking lot water whenever it rains. 😉
Wow, talk about editing progress! You’ve done a ton!
And…I think that happy rain boots and umbrellas are requisite for gloomy days. It’s all grey and wet out, so you need something cheerful to perk you (and everyone who sees you) up, right?
Thanks for the encouragement, Rowenna! I’m getting closer to done with Phase One, so that’s good…still a ton of work to do, now that I’ve read most of it and seen what needs to change.
I love rainy weather and dark gray clouds, but happy rain boots and umbrellas make me even more cheery on those days! (I’m a weirdo about that, I know. I give credit to all the positive memories I have on stormy days – sitting on the porch with my dad when I was little, riding a bike down a Shanghai street while I got poured on, etc…)
Thanks for the shout-out Kayla 🙂 Love the boots!
You’re welcome! Eager to share a shout-out when the article is so shout-out-worthy! 😉
Very cute boots! No need for those here right now as we are getting snow.
Have fun editing! Everything sounds like it is going great!
I have snow envy right now! Everyone stuck in the midst of it probably hates it, but I love winter weather (probably because I’ve not been winter weathered sick). I think we’re actually supposed to get a little bit tomorrow. 🙂
UNRELATED.
Did you ever finish The Time Travelers Wife? I just did last night & I NEED TO TALK TO SOMEONE ABOUT IT.
I still haven’t finished it! I love it, but my days keep filling up like crazy! I’m on page 283 or so, so hopefully I’ll finish soon and we can have a good long chat about it!
In the meantime, try Jennifer Neri – I know she’s read it and has a lot of thoughts on it!
Love the rainboots, Kayla. And your yellow revision update at the bottom of your posts.
Thanks, Cynthia! I usually put the update in some sort of teal, but I felt this color just felt more fun. 🙂