*cue hysterical laughter*
Sometimes it seems like I’ll do anything to avoid writing, whether subconsciously or not. For the past few weeks I’ve been on a crusade against dust kitties and unused junk in the house. A couple of weeks ago I got a new Dirt Devil vacuum and have been cleaning with a vengeance ever since. I’ve discovered that with the new HEPA filters in vacuums, I can clean without stirring up too many allergies. So I’ve turned the Room of Doom (aka Merlin’s room) into something that is once more usable and mostly tidy. I’ve rearranged my desk to make it easier to keep organized and to streamline my work-flow. I’ve finally taken the Harry Potter books out of my primary bookshelf and replaced them with criminology books and non-fiction accounts of the FBI’s behavioral analysis program.
But have I done any actual writing?
Well, of course not.
I haven’t even made any in-roads on revising the novel that I want to submit 50 pages of for the Writers Digest Editors’ Intensive in October. I haven’t even looked at it.
I have managed to make a scene-by-scene chart of the book I’m co-writing with buggybrowneyes, but since she’s still rereading it so we can finish it in September (yes, JD, you saw that right, finished by the time you get here, no excuses!) that’s about all I can do on that.
So why isn’t Shaper getting revised in the meantime?
*sigh* I have no idea. I LOVE writing. I love the process. I love discovering what the characters are going to do next. I usually even enjoy revising. But maybe since I’m revising the first novel that was written with an outline and a plan, I’m having trouble for some reason. Holly Lisle’s One-Pass Manuscript Revision isn’t working for me. It’s too much to keep in my head all at once. I think I need to do a character-and-plot revision, then go back through for a spelling-grammar-and-word-choice revision. Two-Pass Manuscript Revision?
I promised astraea36 that I would get to work on it this weekend. Okay, back at the beginning of the year I promised her I would have it done by our trip to Vegas. But she forgave me for missing that deadline. I’m not sure how many more deadlines she should forgive, though. I need someone to be strict with me, and at the moment I’m failing at being strict with myself.
Instead, today I leveled my rogue twice in Warcraft. Yeah, that’s productive. *sigh*
Strict or nag? How can I be strict with you when I’m so far away? I’d totally show up at your house and tie you to a chair if I were close enough. And then stare at you in a non-creepy way because I’m not sure I do creepy very well.. until you finished revising at least three chapters every time I came over. After that, we’d have ice cream! I love ice cream!
Here’s a “Strict” icon for you! Hee
Also, I have a theory of why you’re avoiding Shaper, but that’s a conversation for another time. *loves*
Want to hear something EXCITING?!
Yesterday while I was going through some of ‘s notes on the novel, I was STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. Or inspiration, actually. *G* But I typed up some ideas and sent them off to her, you, and , and tonight Jilly and I spent an hour on the phone, and much of that was spent brainstorming and exploring the new idea.
So I will begin scribbling in earnest soon. Expect one subplot to be thoroughly expanded on in the new draft. Which has to be done by approximately 25 Sept in order for me to get it sent in to the Editors’ Intensive in time. Or at least the first 50 pages. :D