I gave myself a month to finish a WIP and blogged about it on July 6th. I've had bumps in the form of a week-long computer woes and illness, days when I wanted to kick back with a glass of wine and a nice book, and hours when my 8 and 10 year had play dates and turned my house into the House of Screams. Despite all that, I plodded along.
So, where am I at one month and seven
days later?
89,275 words instead of 100K I'd planned
2 and 1/2 chapters to go.
About 3 days to finish, right?
Maybe.
You see, this is exactly where I've been the last 3 days,
stuck with 2 and 1/2 unfinished chapters
What happened?
The inner editor in me happened. It usually takes me about 4 months to finish a book. I write a chapter...revise it...revise it again until I'm happy with it...upload it so my crit partners can take a whack at it...move on to the next chapter while waiting to hear from them. Steady and slow, but when I finish, it takes me less than a month to edit it. This time, I was drafting a chapter a day, until last Friday when I realized that for the black moment to happen, I had to fix the holes in the plot. I told myself they could wait, but alas, the editor in me took over and I've spent the last 3 days filling the bloody plot holes.
You know what happens when you stop and go over what you've written. You notice things that need fixing, weird sentences, stilted dialogues, out of character behavior... and you can't help yourself. You've got to FIX them.
So tomorrow, I'll be back on track finishing chapter 19, 20 (Wed) and 21 (Thur) because Friday morning I'm taking my kids on a a three-day back-to-school shopping trip and mini-vacation.
So the deadline is now...Thursday night. Or I'm going to be one grumpy mom during this trip.
How do you tame the editor in you while drafting??
I haven't tamed her. I would also go back. I think it makes good sense. Not a waste, work you do anyway and it mIght change the last chapters. Actually, I have the same amount left. But mine takes me longer. :( Maybe I'd write fiction faster.
ReplyDeleteIs your work non-fiction, Jodi? And it's true I needed to change a few things to make the last chapters work.
DeleteThis was tough for me at first. I edited every day. It was edit the previous days work and then move on to writing new stuff. But when my agent pitched Touch of Death before I wrote it and got three requests, I didn't have time to edit as I wrote anymore. I had to go cold turkey and just write. The result was ToD flowing out of me in 14 days. I loved the feeling. Now when my internal editor begins to surface, I remember that feeling and I squash her. :) Good luck, Ednah!
ReplyDelete14 days? You are a writing goddess.
DeleteMy inner editor.. not easy to tame, but I'm really really trying. 1 out of four times, it helps but the rest, I find myself stuck on the same page/chapter. Frustrating. :( I'm trying to tame the urge to look back everytime.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it held me captive for three days, so now I know better.
DeleteI punch my internal editor in the face so that I can keep writing! I came to a dead stop at the last two chapters of my book as well, and had a very strong desire to go back and fix everything first. I ended up just making a few notes about what parts I wanted to fix, then plowed through and wrote the last two chapters. Now I'm revising (bleh). Good luck on finishing your piece!
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping I'll be in your shoes in two days. Here's hoping. Two more chapters to go.
DeleteIt's so hard to do this! I just have to tell the inner editor to have a seat and chill until I'm ready for her. She is extremely pushy!
ReplyDelete