Problem? Due to excessive fear of failure AND fear of success -- coupled with far-ranging, destructive and oft-times humorous bipolar affectation that may or may not have recently included the single-handed chucking of my couch into the backyard [not to mention an industrial-strength procrastination thanks to commercial-grade Adult ADD] -- instead of completing the zero-draft-to-first-draft process, I find myself endlessly tweaking the MS instead of plowing through to The End. Which sucks. Obviously, an immediate and not-quite-sane intervention is required.
So, for accountability under threat of shaming, I present 3 goals, to be completed
by the time I leave for Mexico on October 28th:
1. Finish draft. Requires: writing final chapters, slotting in five new ones.
2. Complete revision & polish. Requires: shuffling some chapters. Deleting unnecessary scenes and words. Incorporating notes from the thousand Post-Its, torn notebook pages and bill envelopes that vex my cat, who finds his desk sleeping space reduced daily.
3. Send to the Bad-Ass Beta Six. Requires: emailing MS to my e-media types. Printing and mailing for my hard-copy enthusiasts. Printing and sliding into binder for personal Next Revision purposes.
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Wow. Maybe I yam far more mentally unstable than previously imagined. But is there really any other way to live? Perhaps not. So wish me luck; I'm going in. Anyone wanna join me in similar madcap hijinks?
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13 comments:
Good luck!
You've gone public, there's no backing down now! You just have to load your boomstick and charge through the barricade! We'll be waiting on the other side... And we'll point out where the bear traps were laid! Not many people know that the big chicken lays them if you ask her nicely.
BTW, you're going to Mexico?
My rough drafts tend to be rough because I want to zip on to the end. Then I have to do back through and edit for grammar and content, and then send it to my readers. So I basically have the same goals as you for my latest MS, but I'm aiming to be done by the end of November, not October. Good luck!
Good luck! I really want to have my current wip finished by the end of the year, so maybe some public shaming would help me achieve that goal. ;)
Thanks, Zoe!
You can do it, Zoe!!!
I definitely wish you luck. I have a goal of finishing my current wip by the end of the month - and I still have 35,000 words to go. Which averages out around 10,000 words per week or 1,500/day. Guess I better get busy.
GOOD LUCK!! I'm sure you'll be brilliant!
Okies. October 28th is in the calendar. Day after K turns 21 and stuff. Rest assured I won't be forgettin' nuttin'!
(You *sure* about this whole heckling thing? I mean, really?)
Hugs and stuff!
Good luck!~
I'm stuck in WIP-land too. My internal editor won't let me write even one little word. So I just free wrote a scene--it was pretty crappy, but I will smooth and add senses, description, and "tight" words later. Had to let the creativity out.
My point of sharing this is that I'm totally feelin' ya. ;)
by the 28th?! You are a better writer than me.
I'm working on finishing line edits by Nov 1st (for NaNo). I've worked it out and i have to do 6 pages a day. So far it's going well.
Good luck!
Good luck!
I'm still way too far from finished, but I'm with you in spirit :-)
Good luck, and I applaud you for making yourself hit the goals! (With a sledgehammer, if possible.)
Go girl.
All I will say here publicly is: I feel ya, sister. I feel your pain. YOu won't get any heckling from me. You must work a lot faster than I, because while my first draft usually only takes me about a month (90,000 word count) revisions take me baby birthing time...9 months-ish. I'm slow slogging through revision hell. S-L-O-W. It's painful.
Okay, here's raising my glass to you. May you kick your ms into perfect submission.
Love,
Lola
You can do it Zoe!!! Good luck!
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