27 May 2014

ROW80 2014, Round 2, Week 7

"A Round of Words in 80 Days is the writing challenge that knows you have a life." 

What I've learned from my revision process for WIP1:

1) At some point you have to let go of your vision and start working with what the book actually is.

2) Deadlines are totally helpful. External deadlines specifically. When pressed for time I seek the simplest available solutions to the biggest problems (rather than tackling little problems in complex ways). This is a good thing.

3) In future, plan for 2 weeks of initial processing (read: freak-out) after beta reader feedback. Not because feedback is bad/unhelpful but just because there will be so much I want to do on the ms and will get overwhelmed and not know where to start and freeze up for a while. Allow 2 weeks for that.

Maybe at some point I will be able to breathe through the panic and set myself a couple different revision deadlines - one for still trying to work toward the vision and one for letting go of the vision and working to finish the book I have - but I'm not there yet. I still find the panic paralyzing.

Writing
  • Min. of 4 hrs/day revising pseudonym's WIP1 & finish draft - Well, I did finish the draft. I can say that. So I guess the time spent becomes a bit of a moot point, no?
Reading

  • Read something inspiring every week - After I finished revising WIP1 I started reading Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (Hunger Games #2).
Community

  •  Read & comment on at least 3 fellow ROW80-ers' check-ins - Yes.
Health

  • Continue to exercise for at least one hour per day - Yes.
  • Continue to moderate my consumption of refined sugar, bread, cheese and alcohol - I would say that probably one meal per day last week included bread, cheese, refined sugar and/or alcohol, and sometimes included all four. But the other two meals per day did not.

This is a blog hop! Click here to see other ROW80 participants' check-ins.

1 comment:

  1. Point no. 3 above was a new consideration for me. I've never given anything large to a beta reader before but I understand how the feedback could send a writer into a 'where do I start first?' tailspin. Giving yourself 2 weeks to process everything and allowing it all to sink in is a great idea, and one I'm going to bear in mind for the future.

    All the best with the revision.

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