Wednesday, November 23, 2011

#ROW80 - Switching Gears

Having finished my first draft of my WIP last week, I'm finding it a bit difficult to switch gears into editing mode.  Now, I'm really trying to rush things to get this book out.  Generally, I'd give myself some time off, reflect, recharge, that sort of thing.  Also, there are these whole holiday things coming up.  No rest for the indie, however.  Not if you want to try and get a good book out by the end of the year.

When in the midst of a writing project, I operate a bit like a factory.  I clock in, write some words, clock out.  There's no question each day what I'm doing.  It's easy, I'm applying butt to chair and writing.  After the first draft, though, there's a whole world of options that open up.  Editing is the obvious one, but you can start seriously looking at covers, marketing strategies, and, dare I say it, the next project.  (Always looking forward, this one is.  So sayeth my inner Yoda voice).  Point is, it can be easy to let indecision paralyze you (or at least me).

With all that's going on, it was tough to stay on schedule.  I suppose that's exactly the reason we set these goals, right?  So that at least we know there IS a schedule.  Well, let's have a look at how I did.

  • Lesson Learned - My personal editing limit is somewhere around 1.5 hours.  After that I need at least a 10 minute break to stand up, switch the mind off, and come back fresh.  I've found that if I don't give myself these breaks, I start rushing through things just to get it done, and you don't want to do that with editing.  You want to make sure you're tasting each word on your tongue, not licking the page in the hopes that you catch the sour spots.
  • WIP Editing - This goal switched to spending at least an hour editing per day.  I've modified it with a length goal (I prefer length to time, to reward myself if I'm more efficient).  I'm shooting for two chapters edited each day.  I have 34 chapters to edit.  Two a day will put me at just over two weeks for my second read through.  That should be about the time I start getting feedback back from betas and editors.  Then I can jump right in to notes.  After finishing I took the weekend off to heal from illness and reassess my goals.  I started back in on this on Monday, and have stuck to it so far.
  • Blogging - 3/3 on the other blog.  One short here.  I meant to write a fiction post, but I'm sort of stuck on that story right now.  When I'm in writing mode, it's easier to, well, write.  In editing mode, the idea flow just seems turned off.  I'm focused on different things.  I wonder if that's normal.  So I may take a break from that for a bit, just because I like the story and don't want to botch it.  I've also started writing yet another blog.  This one is for the high school football team I volunteer for.  It's in its infancy and I'm more of a compiling editor there, but it's yet another helping of stuffing on my plate.  I owe a personal post too for this month.
All in all, in pretty good shape I think.  The word count is going to go down a bit as I switch to editing mode, especially with regards to fiction, but this is to be expected.  Also, I'll still be posting, and I'm of the mind that every word is practice.  The more you squeeze ideas into strings of words, the easier it gets.  With that being said, here's the word count:
  • Project Fiction: 0 (Editing Mode)
  • Since last check in: 2,788
  • Grand Total for Round 4: 43,155

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Matt, it sounds like you're doing fine. Editing is a real pain sometimes. I don't hate it as much as some authors do, but I would much rather write! I can't wait to read your next book!

Matt said...

Yeah, the only disappointing part is that I'm likely not going to be able to hit Christmas, and I may miss the end of the year. You don't want to rush out something that is incomplete, though.

I don't mind editing as much either, it's just a different mindset. I read somewhere where the goal when writing should be to keep your brain firmly on the creative side, which is really what I do. Editing has to be more of a hybrid: creative to look at the story, but analytical to look at grammar and such.

Mike said...

If your new book is going to be half as good as the first then it will be a fantastic book to read I cant wait.

Matt said...

Thanks! I can't wait to share it.

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