Brainwaves

I finished the paper edit/rewrite of my second story yesterday - changed quite a few things, but haven't cut everything thankfully.

So now to the laptop part. This takes much longer as I often just note directions on paper rather than the specific wording. Also as I work through the hard copy I'll often have a brainwave about a character or a scene that needs to come before, so I'll go back scribble a note like: "Andrew has OCD!!!" or "Eamon needs to mention something to Andrew here to stop him from telling Sophia" which often scraps what I'd already written previously.

But it's all good. I'm happy that I've eroded the plot holes at this stage (at least the ones I've spotted) and have improved the story and the flow. God bless Sol Stein. I made notes when I read Solutions for Writers and I go over them again before each edit. His advice is slowly but surely invading my fuzzy, bubble-wrapped brain.

Sorted

I got all riled up for my first Scribblers' Corner only to discover that it's now held on Mondays, not Wednesdays.

But I did finish rewriting my first story today - 1400 words/9087 words in total - and a neat stack of black and white pages is now sat on my desk. I'm going to read over my Sol Stein notes today and then I'll edit the hell out of it. (I'm giving myself a week.)

Thank you for your comments yesterday to my post on hours versus word count - it was good to hear your ways and means. I'm now aiming to do some work in the afternoon, whether it is writing or editing. Even if I just twiddle my thumbs for an hour...as a wise person once said, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I've also decided to work at the weekends too, even just for a few hours. We have another long weekend coming up and I can't spare any more time.

And if you're anything like me, try this: How To Stop Procrastinating. And if you succeed, treat yourself to this.

Sol Stein and the Super Bowl

There was a lot of tossing and turning in bed last night with the thoughts of tackling that Everest of a manuscript. But this morning brought sunshine and some perspective.

So far I've read and made notes on four chapters of Sol Stein's Solutions for Writers - only another twenty-nine to go! I've given myself three days to read it so the goal is eleven chapters a day. So far it has calmed my nerves a little and inspired some concrete ideas to improve the first story.

I was late to bed last night because I was watching the Super Bowl on BBC. Until two years ago American Football was incomprehensible to me but two long visits to the States was a revelation. Mainly because when every bar you visit has American Football on several tvs, seemingly on a loop, it's a case of "if you can't beat em, join em". I found perfect strangers were delighted to explain the game to me and showed great patience when answering my most basic questions (like "what line does the guy have to cross now?" when the tv station has helpfully highlighted it in day-glo yellow).

Last night's game was enjoyable but as the second quarter drew closer and closer to one o'clock in the morning my eyes were not as sharp as they should have been and I couldn't follow the ball (important when watching these kinds of sports I find) so I trecked off to bed. Not really a fan of Tom Petty after I overdosed on his greatest hits several years ago (the less said about that the better) but I did miss the references to the famous Super Bowl ads. If you missed them too, click here.

Schadenfreude Fans

Well my last day went relatively smoothly - I was as giddy as a schoolgirl for the last hour and then had a short crisis of faith on my walk home. A brief version of the rollercoaster I felt when I left my job the last time so no surprise there.

I'm still not feeling 100% so the Ours and I are staying in this weekend and taking it easy. Am still in two minds on how to tackle next week. I'm very aware that I have less time than I did before so there is a temptation to just get on with it, but a sneaking suspicion tells me that it could be my downfall. Mainly because once I get stuck into something I absolutely lose the plot if I have to scrap it and start from the beginning, so it's better that I know what I'm doing from the get go. So spending a few days looking into editing techniques and what to look out for might be the better bet.

So it looks like I'll be tearing into Sol Stein's Solutions for Writers (which I read parts of when I was working but that my mind has erased due to not taking notes) and consolidating advice and methods given to me by fellow writers and bloggers. A similar strategy to revising for an exam really, get to know the material until you are dying to do anything else, even sitting the exam. Always worked for me in the past anyway.

Once that's done I'm planning to read through the whole manuscript from beginning to end, pass through the five stages of grief (hopefully quickly) and then start editing. I'll post it all here for fellow writers and schadenfreude fans.

Glad

Oh, I am so glad that last week is finally over! After sleeping in until all hours over Christmas, stumbling around in the pitch black every morning in sub-zero temperatures was not a pleasant development.

This week has started better. I set my alarm clock back ten minutes so that I would get to work on time. (I never cop on when I first wake up, works a treat.) Strolling to work I reminded myself that I had a four day week ahead. And that I was finishing up with work soon...

I've been reading more Sol Stein and I'm inspired. The book is straight down the line, no waffle, just a guide to making the most of your writing and keeping your readers involved from the get go. After all, it's all about making them happy!