Peg Herring's Blog - Posts Tagged "manuscript"
Gimme a "D" (eadline)
I've given myself a week to get it all together. I've long nown that I do best with a deadline. They're natural for teachers, because every hour of the day is at least one. For a writer, there are plenty of deadlines as well, but not always when you need them. I've got plenty going on: two books coming out soon, one edited and in need of promotion; one whose editing hangs over my head like that sword in mythology (When will they send it back? How much will they want it changed? How much time will they give me to get it done?)
So I know I should be finishing the WIP, getting it into some sort of shape for readers to begin gnawing at its edges. And there's the rub: I have no deadline for that. I can set it aside for a dozen reasons...especially when the going gets tough.
So there: I'm announcing to the world that I WILL finish it this week and present it to my first reader next Tuesday.
Stay tuned for a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth.
So I know I should be finishing the WIP, getting it into some sort of shape for readers to begin gnawing at its edges. And there's the rub: I have no deadline for that. I can set it aside for a dozen reasons...especially when the going gets tough.
So there: I'm announcing to the world that I WILL finish it this week and present it to my first reader next Tuesday.
Stay tuned for a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Edits and Finishing Them, Sort of
The problem with being a writer is that you're never off duty. Ideas arise, phrases occur, characters appear, and they have to be captured before they fade in memory.
A subdivision of that is the editing process, which can stretch into infinity. I have a very nice editor who made some very helpful suggestions on a manuscript, and I've been working on them. So am I done? Did I do what she asked me to? Yeah. I mean, I think so. But when someone asks for more setting or more clues to character, (to quote George Michael) how much is enough?
A subdivision of that is the editing process, which can stretch into infinity. I have a very nice editor who made some very helpful suggestions on a manuscript, and I've been working on them. So am I done? Did I do what she asked me to? Yeah. I mean, I think so. But when someone asks for more setting or more clues to character, (to quote George Michael) how much is enough?
