Well. I've been revising the latest manuscript, and oy! Got it back a while ago from my editor who said it Just Didn't Work and that It Must Be Fixed. Part of me groaned and just wished that stack of papers I received in the mail would go away. I have other ideas, other stories that want to be written. The Muse is impatiently tapping her foot, wanting me to done with it already. She can't seem to understand that having the story down on paper does not mean it's done.
Another part of me impatiently wants to delve into the revisions so that I can sculpt the story into something better, elegant in form and stature. There's something enormously satisfying about the revision process; it's a different sort of magic from the sheer raw creative first draft. You read through the raw material and hone in on one thing to fix, and then click, click, click! A string of domino-motifs snakes through the plot, theme, and characters and ties everything together. When things click like that, it's almost a physical sensation of rightness.
It's frustrating though; doing extensive revisions in the way see it'll need to be done demands some long, focused time, which is in short supply since I'm working full time outside the home. By the time I come home and am done with dinner, I'm tired and my mind refuses to concentrate in the way it should. So, that leaves the weekend; 10 hours at least per weekend should do the trick.
I feel tired just thinking of it.
Actually, I'm looking at the clock and it's past 11 pm, and that’s probably why I'm feeling tired. So, off to bed. With luck, I'll have some time during lunch tomorrow to work on the revisions.
Another part of me impatiently wants to delve into the revisions so that I can sculpt the story into something better, elegant in form and stature. There's something enormously satisfying about the revision process; it's a different sort of magic from the sheer raw creative first draft. You read through the raw material and hone in on one thing to fix, and then click, click, click! A string of domino-motifs snakes through the plot, theme, and characters and ties everything together. When things click like that, it's almost a physical sensation of rightness.
It's frustrating though; doing extensive revisions in the way see it'll need to be done demands some long, focused time, which is in short supply since I'm working full time outside the home. By the time I come home and am done with dinner, I'm tired and my mind refuses to concentrate in the way it should. So, that leaves the weekend; 10 hours at least per weekend should do the trick.
I feel tired just thinking of it.
Actually, I'm looking at the clock and it's past 11 pm, and that’s probably why I'm feeling tired. So, off to bed. With luck, I'll have some time during lunch tomorrow to work on the revisions.
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