Pantster and I are working on the last few pages of our current manuscript. We were talking Saturday about wrapping this story up and going back to start the editing process. Like most everyone, we want our manuscript to be as error free as we can make it, but, also like most everyone else, we don’t really think reading and re-reading for typos and other problems is any great source of fun. It is simply a task that must be done.
I have heard many people talk about this stage of the process--when the actual story is finished but all the work isn’t completed. It seems there are always errors to be found or changes that need to be made. Unfortunately, this is often the point in the process where many of us lose interest and our thoughts turn to the next project. In our case, moving on is especially tempting because we want to revise an already completed story. We're excited because we already know the characters plus it is set in the same town as our current manuscript. See what I mean? It is very tempting to let our thoughts drift over to this story when we need to stay focused on the current work in progress.
I don’t think this phenomenon is specific to writers. It seems that when many people get near the end of a major project, they lose interest, especially if the fun part is finished. This is probably why so many people have unfinished projects like half painted tables and partially landscaped lawns. In my hometown there was a house that had a renovation in progress with erected scaffolds and everything, when the lady of the house ran off with a U.P.S. man; her husband abandoned the renovation. I guess his heart wasn’t in finishing it, so the scaffolds stayed up for years and years. Literally, the house became a landmark for giving directions, “You know the house with the scaffolds, past the elementary school? Well, you need to turn at the next road to the left. That will be Smoky Road.”
Have you ever lost interest in a project before finishing? If so, what did you do? If not, please share the secret of your completion success with us.
Yes, I have currently lost interest in the book I am editing. My problem is that I am not under pressure - there's no one waiting for it and I just don't have the impetus to get in there and do the hard stuff (like criticize my own work). I have set myself a schedule: you have to do at least an hour a day on the book before you get to do the fun stuff, like writing on another uncompleted work. I may not get much done on some days and others, well, I fly through the editing; it just depends on my mood. No sage words of advice except the grass is always greener, and more fun, on the other side of the fence.
ReplyDeleteMoving on before it's time--that's how Alabama came close to losing to Auburn last year.
ReplyDeleteNaw, we just wanted it more...(g)
ReplyDeleteCheryl, you are very wise. The grass is always more fun on the other side of the fence!
ReplyDeleteOne of my worst habits, not finishing projects. I hang my head in shame
ReplyDeleteI really, really, really need to work on the book I'm pitching in Orlando. Or at least the first three chapters. But... I watched "Under the Tuscan Sun" last night and there's a line where she says the novel isn't coming along but the procrastination is great or something to that effect.
ReplyDeleteI'm doing that very same thing, editing my book. It's a hard process. Certainly, not a lot of fun. But I love the times when I'm reading through it and think, "Did I really write this?" Or "I'm a genius!" LOL!
ReplyDeleteOf course, those moments are intermingled with quite a few more, "I suck," moments.
This reminds me of a "Little Richard" quote. Musing on "greener grass" he said something like, "the grass may look greener, but it is just as hard to cut."
ReplyDeleteWriting and editing are like collecting and hoarding for me. I want all those words for some reason...it is so difficult to cut them loose and let the edited collection stand elegantly on its own.
Thank God for friends who add to our lives when they help us subtract.
DoRightWoman,
ReplyDeleteThat is very wise, but you always were.
We never let them go completely. There's this file called "Cuts"