Tragic Sans

Once again, I’m going to give up on completing NaNoWriMo. I intended to use this weekend writing and editing. Well, I’d gotten quite a lot done editing my existing novel! …and absolutely no new writing done.

Well, it’s for the best, really. I’d rather be that much closer getting my existing novel into a shape in which other people might think it’s good, and not just me. If I can get a little bit more done every night this week, or at least another marathon editing weekend, I think I can get it finished before next week and be able to give it to some readers for critique. It’ll be nice to get some feedback from people outside my own head. The voices in there aren’t always the most trust-worthy.

I love this book, and I’m extremely proud of it — but I don’t mind saying I can’t wait to be done of it. Sure, I want it to be the best it can be! I’m not at all going to hedge on the effort going into editing it. But, when it’s done, when I’ve edited the last page and am ready to send it to paying customers/editors, I’m done with it. I totally understand how directors and actors when their franchise gets cancelled and they’re asked about fan efforts to revive their show, they often reply with a kind of “Oh, it was a great time in my life, but it’s over and I’ve moved on now. I don’t think I can return to that.” Makes me wonder what the heck’s George Lucas’ deal, constantly going back and fiddling with Star Wars. Guess it helps he just has to tell an army of people, “Go and change and add this. Hop to!”

Related Posts:

• General update
• NaNoWriMo, again. Maybe. Perhaps?

This is just a general update as it’s been a while since I posted. Did I mention on here I’m  a struggling writer?Yeah, no Internet at the house right now — I’m doing everything on an iPhone on 3G with occasional jaunts to the public library for their WiFi. I attended a social media conference for my day job yesterday. They said not to ask your social media subscribers for money very often else you’ll turn them away. I get that. I’m annoyed when some organization constantly hits me up for cash. So… lemme just post in just thisparagraph and no following paragraphs of this post *grin*: you can buy my very inexpensive collection of five short stories through Smashwords for a discounted $1.99. Please consider it.

So, what else am I doing with my time?

Well, I’m halfway through editing that novel I finished. It never fails to amaze me just how badly and constantly I need to edit what I write. This novel, for example: I’d submitted the first two chapters to a writing workshop once, and naturally I edited the chapters before submitting it. And, I edited them after getting feedback. Then, I edited them yet again (along with the rest of the first 2/3 of the novel) before submitting them for my Master’s thesis. Even so, going back over them for this completed draft edit, there’s still many places where I stopped in shock at just how bad a sentence was, or a piece of action. I wonder to myself, did I write this?! 

I should be glad that I’m growing as a writer to be able to improve my writing with every passing look. I just wish the writer I was immediately before each improvement wasn’t such a bad writer!

Anyway, I’m hoping to get most, if not all, of the rest of the novel edited. Then, off it’ll go to some test readers for their comments. Following that, another edit, and then self-publish as I look for an agent. Fortunately, agents (and editors and publishers) aren’t leery as they once were to buy novels that’ve been self-published. In many ways, it can serve as a proving-ground for the the novel’s potential.

But first, wrap it up here at the library and take a 20 minute nap — it was an early morning!

Related Posts:

• No no, NaNoWriMo.