I've written recently about some quicksand slogging through the editing process. Not for lack of wanting to do it or because I didn't want to do it. More like "life happens" and then there's the recovery from "life events" and then I might sit down and stare at the page or the screen and say, "huh."
But I keep at it. Little by little. I figured out which version of the contest draft was the most recent - or probably the most recent. And then I decided that it was recent enough and I was going through it all again, anyway.
So. I've put in over 20 hours on the memoir editing alone. And that's actual hands-on time: actively rewriting, editing, adding, deleting. That doesn't include the oh-what's-happening-on-Facebook, write-a-post, check-my-email time. It's actual sit down and do-it time.
Now I'm on a roll. Words are flowing and dropping and appearing and it's coming together.
Tomorrow is almost entirely dedicated to editing and getting this done! I have a massage scheduled tomorrow. It was originally at 11:30, but the massage therapist asked if I could change it to 10 and I said, yes, if I go right to bed after I get home from work (which I haven't yet - but will as soon as I'm done with this). How that relates to writing is that I will be done an hour earlier which means another hour to write!
I have nothing else except the massage tomorrow. So my plan is to write after the massage (most like type in some of the hand-written edits ... sometimes I'm in a post-massage zone for a little bit) for a couple hours. Then go for a walk or something, depending on where I end up writing. I may go for a swim - that would be a good balance to sitting and editing. Then go to one of my favorite writing cafes and get a latte and edit more. And cycle through the walking, editing, until I've had enough. I don't think I'll get it all done tomorrow - there are still four short chapters that I haven't touched in terms of editing yet.
The great news is that I have 50% of the submission chapters completely edited and ready to go! I was so happy when I flagged them with the hot pink sticky notes with "done" on them in black pen. It is very satisfying to look at the notebook and see all those pink hotspots signaling completion.
I'll talk more about the notebook later. But, for now, I must get to bed so I can get up for my massage.
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