I haven’t written this week and that’s ok! It is. Instead, I’ve been reading and planning and creating a strategy (re: another one of my lists) for future edits, and to target all those little things that overwhelm me whenever I think about them for more than a few minutes. I’m going to take it in pieces and save my sanity. For inspiration, I read James Scott Bell’s Revision and Self-editing for Publication, which offers plenty of excellent advice on managing a major rewrite with as little pain as possible. It helped me think about some of the kinks I’ve been having a hard time figuring out. Very good indeed.
Andrea Hannah has also posted a great article over on The Secret Life of Writers on incubating rather than procrastinating, which you should all go read. It’s spot on and much needed advice. Seeing my week of reading, thinking, and planning as incubating rather than putting things off makes it all better.
Other things I’ve been doing while not writing:
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Finished reading A Dance with Dragons… leaving me shattered and yearning for more.
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Worked on important, secret things.
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Played with contact paper–fancied up a side table and made cheap girl decals to spruce up a mostly empty space.
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Learned some Photoshop tricks.
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Gave Evernote a second chance and became addicted.
I have so many books on self-editing novels that I’ve started, but never actually finished reading… I’m slightly afraid to try and read them again, in case I find even MORE problems with a book that, right now, I’m bored of and don’t feel it works (despite beta reader feedback that it does).
But then it’s better to find mistakes now than later, I suppose. =S
Glad you’re finding that book helpful – I have the “Write Great Fiction” one he wrote, but looks like it’s essentially the same book.I should probably at least have a skim-read of it again…