The blog has slowed down a bit this week because after finishing my rough draft on Sunday, I’ve been indulging myself the time to bask in the warm glow of a finished manuscript. It’s part of my rhythms to allow these few days of enjoyment at reaching a milestone, but it’s also part of my rhythms to eventually hit the anxiousness to proceed with the next phase.
Sure, I have a finished manuscript, but I poured it out onto the page and it needs serious work for punch up, consistency and general grammar. In searching for the above quote I first learned it’s not actually attributed to Ernest Hemingway as popular belief had me thinking, but I also searched for it intentionally.
One of the things I struggled with before my purge of deleting 2,000+ pages of writing in order to force myself to focus on single projects, was focus on editing. It’s not fun. It’s a grind. It’s not nearly as “sexy” as pouring out brand new words and stories onto an empty page where there was nothing before it. Dare I say it’s a slow, hateful process that when done right borders on masochistic.
But it is so damned necessary.
As I noted earlier this week, I start thinking about my next project when I reach the end of a rough draft phase, this is to create a goal and motivation for myself to get to the next phase of work on my story: editing.
I intentionally make the drafting process as loose and easy for myself as possible, so that it just flies out. That of course makes the need for editing all the more dire though. So, now I’m at the point where after five days of not touching Five Talents, I’m anxious. I’m anxious to get started on Unicorns and Satellites, I’m anxious to be able to call Five Talents finished, I’m anxious to make it better, make it worth sharing and being read. I’m anxious to get started editing.
Maybe anxious is the wrong word. Maybe it’s that I’m hungry and have the fire burning after my “vacation.” As said before folks, find your resolve in your project, and let it propel you. We move forward.
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