I just feel like whining

So, it's summer vacation and I have all this extra time to write. Toadflax is on revision 3 and I've promised myself to get it to the first agent by the end of July.

So, why isn't this in Goals? Because it's taking SO F****** LONG!

I've got my MS back from my writing coach, and there's so MANY little notes all over it! I mean, he's a really good beta (he better be, I paid for this torture) and most of the notes are for nitpicky things. But I'm ending up spending DAYS revising a single chapter. It's AGONY! Not the fun stuff. Not the first draft WHEE! stuff when you're making it all up.

No, this is the nitpicky part. Write the same sentence again and again, then change something three paragraphs later and realize now you have to go back and change it AGAIN!

So.

I just feel like whining.

Yeah, I know, I know. I just spent another two hours straight, and I think I almost have the first three chapters done. I'll sleep on it, go over them again in the morning, and move on to chapter four.

It's just so much WORK! And oh, by the way, it's a chapter book. 14K. So after all this agony, a fast reader will be able to finish it in a night. 8 months to write, one night to read.

Sheesh.

HeronW said:

DO IT! In small bits--5 pgs a day or 3, but you will get it done and you'll be glad you did.

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Very helpful advice, thank you! I sat down with the calendar and counted the days this month when I know I have uninterrupted hours, and they exactly match the number of chapters I have left to do! So now I don't feel like I have to do the whole MS. I know how much I need to do each day, and which days are "free" to catch up if I'm getting bogged down. It feels much more manageable now.

Greenwolf103 said:

Betas definitely catch things that we don't see. I'm curious, though: You said you PAID for a beta read? Is this a professional service, or something? I'm glad to hear that at least you are getting great feedback. Yes, the revisions are tedious, but worth it.

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Yes, he's a professional writer and writing coach. He was on the faculty of a workshop I attended, and I found his insight and critiques to be so much more to the point than anyone else's. I just haven't been able to find a critique group or partner that pushes me far enough. The thing that I like best about him is he's very socratic. He doesn't say, You should do this. He says, Tell me more about this. Then I talk, and he gives me suggestions about how to put that idea into the story, or how to make it stronger.

Because it costs money, I do everything I possibly can on my own and with the help of other readers. Then I have him go through the "finished" revision.

Maybe I'll have learned enough with this one that I won't need to use him on the next book. We'll see...