I had two goals this weekend: First, I wanted to get through edits on Will ‘O the Wisp, Second, I wanted to finish a book I’ve been reading.
It’s another bachelor weekend, and it sounded realistic. I never got to the story I’m reading. I wonder if all writers go through this?
I started at 7:00 this morning. I was part way through the edits, but the document was 193 pages long. Let the horror of that statement sink in for a bit. Okay, they were electronic pages and the numbers change depending on how I hold my iPad, but still…
God, I suck! Why did I ever start writing?
God, I suck. Why did I write this piece of garbage?
I don’t think this rule is right?
Spend three hours with The Purdue Owl, and other sources. Some of the rules are flexible. They’re more like guidelines, Arrrggghhh.
If the rule is flexible, I like my method.
Oops, I was really wrong here. God, I suck.
Consistency, consistency, consistency; even if I’m consistently wrong. Do I suck at this?
Wow, that was a good passage. Go back and read it again. That was the opposite of suck.
Oops, I’m supposed to be editing, not enjoying the story. I mean, I know how it ends.
Put a comma in, take a comma out. I hate rules.
Did I really think that up? That was really creative. Keep reading.
Back to the editing. This isn’t so tough.
Read three chapters and really enjoy them. God, this is a good story.
I hope people will read this, it’s really good. Back to editing.
Doh! How did I duplicate a chapter number?
What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. Editing is like being a character in one of my stories, only without bullets and hair loss.
Back to The Purdue Owl. Okay, I’m wrong.
This is the best story I’ve ever written. I’m a rockstar!
It’s 7:00 PM and I’m finished. I took an hour break for a sandwich, and to sandblast my eyeballs. I’d like to get back to the book I’m reading, but I don’t think my eyes will let me.
I am so grateful to the person who helped me with this. I’m more of a big picture kind of guy. Plot and characters are more appealing to me. The microscope work is not my forte.
Sure, I have to read through it again (more than once), and another friend offered up some structural comments that should really help. Still, I’m happy. This is going to be an awesome story, and it’s suitable for young adults. I’ve never written one that I thought was completely safe for the younger crowd.
Maybe I’ll tackle my reading tomorrow, but I have an appointment with Smaug and Bilbo in the afternoon.
The inner (or outer) battle of an author. I’m guessing it was a first draft.
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Um, yeah. We’ll go with that.
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Always claim it’s a first draft.
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Ah yes, I recognize those it-sucks, it-doesn’t-suck shifts well. I suspect all writers do. That’s what makes our perseverance so admirable. We push on even when we’re worried what we wrote is garbage. Or perhaps that just makes us masochists? 😉
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I felt like Bruce Campbell being torn into good Bruce and bad Bruce.
Good Craig won in the end.
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Oh good. It’s always best when that happens. 🙂
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Yikes, I have THAT to look forward to when I go back over Silver Bullet? 😒
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Maybe not. You might handle yourself better than I do.
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We’ll see…
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Craig, for the record, YOU DO N.O.T SUCK!!!!!!!!! (See how I abused exclamation marks and added the periods for emphasis in the word “not”? That means it’s really real!) The next time you start up the steps to that roller coaster, please call me so I can slap some sense into you. 🙂 YOU ROCK! (And so does WOW!)
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I think it’s my process. I’m aware of it and don’t put much faith in those feelings. I just can’t stop them from happening. Based upon the comments, I think others have the same process.
After bulling my way through, I feel much better. Thanks.
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That made me laugh a lot. I have days like that. Indeed, I never number my chapters until I’ve finished because I’m actually incapable of numbering them in sequential order. I feel your pain in that respect. 😉
Cheers
MTM
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I thought the authors out there would appreciate the roller coaster.
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Too right, it is definitely well known to me. 😉
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