Well here we are again, another new season and I continue this journey of mine. The journey to not just write a novel (I’ve accomplished that) but to edit and publish a novel.
I must admit, my day job has kept me busy and we’ve had family visiting as well. While all of that is challenging and engaging (work) and wonderful (both) it’s made it more challenging to carve out the time to write.
I continue to very slowly chip away at the revision. I have hit 13% on Lesson 7 now. There are 8 lessons in Holly’s triage section. My new goal for the remainder of the year is to finish triage. Then the fun begins again.
This triage section is a tough go. It’s looking at all of the bad things I did, document how much of this or that I have. While this will be so useful in the later sections, I don’t “get” to change anything yet. It is difficult to stay motivated when it’s not the super fun first draft writing that I have done until now. Which is why I’m here! I need to learn this part of my craft. I just happened to start with it a 140k word project first. Because why not start in ultra-hard mode.
To help with the hard slog through the Never Ending Story grade Swamp of Sadness, I am enjoying working on some more flash fiction. I intend these stories to be in the same world as the big project. Some of them are characters in the story, some are just part of the world. People I need to know that play a small part in the story, but I want to know them better so they play their best in my bigger story. It’s been fun to work on small projects. They seem much more attainable. The catch is that I still don’t have a lot of time even for these, so it’s not been quick, despite their name.
On a slightly different note, I have invested in myself a little and made my work from home/writing space better. I got a new chair which has already felt like sitting on a well supported cloud. I moved around my desk, and even in stalled some blinds to keep the glare off my monitor. All so that when I do have precious minutes to write, I can do so comfortably. I also had to replace some headphones that had a suffered a ruinous calamity.
Imagine if you will: an eight year old pair of headphones, lovingly duct taped one side to prolong its life. Taking great care to no longer sit on them on airplanes anymore – it was only two or three times – I had the audacity to put them on my head one day this summer. The other side protested, completely detaching from the headband, the ear phone dangling quite inconveniently. In their defence, the sound still came through perfectly, but I would have to duct tape them to my head to hear it.
And so the seasons continue, without any consult from me. I endeavour to enjoy the changing season, enjoying what warmth and beauty this season brings, knowing that once winter settles in, writing will become an escape for me.