Deadline for next manuscript coming fast, but I'm not worried - here's why
As I take time to write this post, I am staring at a looming deadline glaring back at me.
I am rewriting the last chapters of a new novel and my editor will expect to see the finished manuscript in her email first thing Monday morning.
It's ok, I've got it under control. The re-write will be much better than the original and I already know how I'm going to work it out. So, I'm going to make it one way or another.
Deadlines are not new for me. I was a newspaper guy for almost 35 years. Reporting, editing, column writing, editorial writing, magazine writing and editing. I was proud of the publications I worked for and proud of the work we did.
We really did change the world we lived in, bringing understanding and enlightenment to readers from throughout the community.
And we always did it under the gun - the deadline clock ticking off precious seconds and minutes right up until press time. It was exhilarating work and I loved every minute of it.
These days, however, I mostly set my own short-term deadlines.
When I'm working on a piece of fiction, I invest 2 to 3 hours to the writing process every day. I don't shoot for a specific word count. Rather, I shoot for writing through complete scenes or chapters in the story.
Then I go back later in the same day and re-write it. The break between writing and re-writing gives my mind time to tumble and toss around what I've produced, and I always come up with improved dialogue, narrative, plot development, or color, or detail.
Then, the next day (after sleeping on it and tossing the piece around some more), I'm ready to move the story along to the next scene or chapter.
I started this novel on my birthday, January 6, and I will finish Monday morning, July 9. That's six full months to complete 35 chapters. Again, I'm not worried about word count because I know that's all going to change while working with my editor. The story will grow and then it will shrink.
I'll bet you're dying to know who the lucky woman is that gets to sort through and make sense of the craziness rolling out of my mind.
Her name is Christina M. Frey, and she's an editor and literary coach at Page Two Editing. This will be our third writing project together and I look forward to seeing where she thinks we should take the story from here.
I trust her completely and believe in her abilities. From experience, I know she will come up with some fabulous ideas about how to make this an even better story.
The real fun begins Monday morning when the deadline clock expires and Christina gets in the driver's seat for the rest of the ride to the novel's completion.
I've worked with all kinds of editors most of my life. Some really good, and some really horrible. Christina is the best I've encountered. That's because she pushes me to improve the story at every level, but never loses sight of the fact that it is my story.
I'm eager for Monday morning to arrive. Deadlines don't break you, they only make you stronger.
I am rewriting the last chapters of a new novel and my editor will expect to see the finished manuscript in her email first thing Monday morning.
It's ok, I've got it under control. The re-write will be much better than the original and I already know how I'm going to work it out. So, I'm going to make it one way or another.
Deadlines are not new for me. I was a newspaper guy for almost 35 years. Reporting, editing, column writing, editorial writing, magazine writing and editing. I was proud of the publications I worked for and proud of the work we did.
We really did change the world we lived in, bringing understanding and enlightenment to readers from throughout the community.
And we always did it under the gun - the deadline clock ticking off precious seconds and minutes right up until press time. It was exhilarating work and I loved every minute of it.
These days, however, I mostly set my own short-term deadlines.
When I'm working on a piece of fiction, I invest 2 to 3 hours to the writing process every day. I don't shoot for a specific word count. Rather, I shoot for writing through complete scenes or chapters in the story.
Then I go back later in the same day and re-write it. The break between writing and re-writing gives my mind time to tumble and toss around what I've produced, and I always come up with improved dialogue, narrative, plot development, or color, or detail.
Then, the next day (after sleeping on it and tossing the piece around some more), I'm ready to move the story along to the next scene or chapter.
I started this novel on my birthday, January 6, and I will finish Monday morning, July 9. That's six full months to complete 35 chapters. Again, I'm not worried about word count because I know that's all going to change while working with my editor. The story will grow and then it will shrink.
I'll bet you're dying to know who the lucky woman is that gets to sort through and make sense of the craziness rolling out of my mind.
Her name is Christina M. Frey, and she's an editor and literary coach at Page Two Editing. This will be our third writing project together and I look forward to seeing where she thinks we should take the story from here.
I trust her completely and believe in her abilities. From experience, I know she will come up with some fabulous ideas about how to make this an even better story.
The real fun begins Monday morning when the deadline clock expires and Christina gets in the driver's seat for the rest of the ride to the novel's completion.
I've worked with all kinds of editors most of my life. Some really good, and some really horrible. Christina is the best I've encountered. That's because she pushes me to improve the story at every level, but never loses sight of the fact that it is my story.
I'm eager for Monday morning to arrive. Deadlines don't break you, they only make you stronger.
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