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I guess I'll kick things off this week. Things continue to progress steadily with number 2. It's not a masterpiece but it seems to be going a lot more smoothly that the first. It feels less like I'm learning and more like I'm practising now. I don't know whether that makes sense at all but hey, wouldn't be the first time I've rattled on without making any sense. Number 1 has been set aside for now. I read it through once and my head threatened to explode when I realised exactly how much work needed to be done on it. At this stage I can't see a single paragraph that doesn't need to be improved in some way. I've contented myself with going through it with a highlighter and marking all the glaring, critical issues and now it's been set aside to marinate for a while. Hopefully some time will make things look less awful. It also means I can devote all my attention to #2's first draft which hopefully will help it.

I hope everyone's had a good week.

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I know what you mean Marelle but your doing better than me. I keep trying to get started on the next one but the first is still haunting me. I keep thinking I'll just check this next chapter and then I get the 'oh my god what was I think when I wrote that' stage and stash it all away hoping for the out of sight out of mind theory to kick in. Hopefully the end of this week will be better', I'm flying off to Brisbane for work on Thursday so I'm hoping a change of scenery might get things moving in the right direction again.

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Hey Marelle, well done on the first ms... once you give yourself a bit of distance on it, you'll be able to see the bigger picture much more clearly.  Is it related to the second ms?

I've only done about 400 words this week, which is well below my limit.  But, we have been distracted with wedding guests, etc.  They'll have all gone by midday tomorrow, so life can get back to normal - whatever normality is. 

Hope your writing week went well.

Md

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So I'm not the only one who does that Trissn? I've got a list of about a dozen things in the ms which I'm half-convinced need to be shredded then set on fire. I'm only resisting the urge at the moment because I know that if I give in now, tomorrow it'll be something new, then the next day I'll be on my knees trying to piece together the bits that I burned on the first day, the day after that it'll be time for a new ritual burning... I'm basically forcing myself to stay away from it.

Merryd, I think all things considered 400 words is an achievement. Congrats again on that wedding. To answer your question, I've veered completely away from work 1. The one I'm working on now is an entirely different story with entirely different characters in a whole different place. I'd originally planned to go straight on and do a book 2. I've even got a couple of key scenes rattling around in my (evil, I tell you!) brain. I'm not sure my decision not to write it was a sound one but the reasoning was that it'll be hard to distance myself from the first ms if I'm still working with the same characters.

Good luck with the trip, Trissn, I hope it helps out.

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There's a line in Out of Africa when Karen von Blixen finally realises that the dam she has created in order to irrigate her coffee plants I think just keeps failing as the waters burst the banks. After much stress and fighting nature she finally sighs and says: "Let it go. This river doesn't live there." I use that liine all the time on my sons and myself and it never fails to amuse us or resonate. And I'm going to say it to you now because I think you must all stop worrying too hard about these manuscripts. Remind yourself that you are intelligent, talented, superwomen and that your back of brain will not allow you to write crap anyway. So let it go. Step back and STOP re-reading and re-reading and stressing. Give it a chance to find its own path. Just write. Go forwards. Do not look back. The manuscript I'm writing at the moment is a crime. I can honestly say I have no idea what the first 14 chapters are truly about. Every day I sit down here and I push the story forward and I never think to read over. I just don't allow myself. Perhaps when you get to 40,000 words or so, then print and read to start settling the story in your mind. You'll be surprised how decent it is if you just give it some time to ferment and ripen. I tend to only read it when I've finished the first draft. I know that's what a couple of you are doing but I'm not sure you've got enough distance and I also think you should let some other people read it too. We are much harder on ourselves than others are - this I promise you. You will be quite surprised how much people enjoy a simple, fast paced, intriguing adventure and all the stuff you stress over they often barely notice. So try out some draft readers and get some feedback and you may be surprised just how well they regard the effort that you want to tear your hair out over. Good luck and well done on all the progress nonetheless. I think you're all pretty amazing the way you down tools on one mss and move briskly onto the next. Happy travels, happy honeymooners, happy writing. F

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Thanks Heaps Fiona I think you have really put things back into perspective for me

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Oh, that was weird... I only saw Marelle's post before I posted... I guess you must have snuck in just before me, Trissn.  Congrats on finishing your first ms - it's quite an achievement.

 

Md

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Thanks Merryd. I did sneak in there which is a first I'm usually last in line (and always late) I decided to turn over a new leaf and be on time from now on (probably like turning over a new tree for me). I just put my printed copy into an envelop ready to post it to one of my sisters, she is my best critic's because she will tell it how it is plus give heaps of great advice, so now I can really put it away for a bit. 

I can't believe how much better I feel after doing something as simple as that.    

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That's great, Trissn.

I've always feel such relief from letting a piece of writing go.  I think for me, a piece of writing can be a bit of a millstone around the neck.  Even if I enjoy the process of writing, it's something I live with and can't escape from until it's finished. 

I hope your ms wings its way back much improved from someone else's eyes.

Md

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This has been a wonderful, enlightening discussion. That may sound over the top but it's true, at least for me. Though there are a couple of things that definitely need fixing for continuty's sake (thanks to my one character who couldn't decide whether they were a man or a woman), I'm not going to sweat over the little stuff. Trissn mentioned perspective and that was the absolute perfect word. Thanks Fiona (and Merryd and Trissn).

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Hey Marelle... my characters couldn't decide which species they were...

 

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In some ways isn't that almost the same thing? 

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Hee hee 

 

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Thanks for the encouragement/words of wisom, Fi.  I've always wanted to be an intelligent, talented, Superwoman.

 

Cross that off the list.  Next! 

 

Your point is well taken, however.  For years, every time I've sat down to get a book done I've found myself going back into a hideous edit loop where I continue rewriting the same chapters over and over in an effort to make them perfect.  as such, they never get done.  This time, it's like you said....go forward instead of back.  Well, except for that one thing we discussed.

 

Sadly, my output this week was bunk.  3 sick children and, as of yesterday, myself, and as of this morning, the wife.  2 of the kids are better but the youngest is a big mucussy mess.  Amazing, though, she is still a big bag of smiles.  I don't know how she does it.

 

So I got zero done on the actual writing, but I've jotted down tones of plot and character notes to keep things advancing, to a degree.

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Slàinte!

 

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I don't know how wll I'm really doing since this is my first manuscript... I have 15,600 words done in ten days. The story is flowing so I guess its a start.

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"I don't have your eyes...but I have your way of looking at things..."