Anyone have these problems?

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Emrys

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1) I log on to AbsoluteWrite and read the threads, intending to reply, but by the time I've read the entire thread everything has pretty much been said, so I move on to the next one without replying... (Hey! I believe I finally defeated that problem. :tongue)

2) A lot of the advice I've read says to finish your project - set it aside - wait a reasonable amount of time - then go back and edit. Then set it aside - rinse and repeat. This is actually very good advice, and I know when I have had to work too much or when I get that absolute need to start jotting the outlines of another story down so I am forced to stay away from my novel for a few days, it really is much easier to edit. And the changes I make are much better. BUT... as I have not sent my first novel off to an agent yet (it's the first one I'm in the process of editing), how can you STAND to take the extra days to set it aside like you need to? :e2hammer:Luckily, I am patiently (not) forcing myself to do this, because I know that my novel will thank me for it in the end. It better. :guns:
 

lauraannwilliams

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I have problem 1 all the time. Or I see a thread with 600 pages and it's intimidating to jump in.

I can't imagine sending off my work without letting it rest for a bit, purely because I've gone back to older work and been shocked at how differently it reads when it's been out of your head for a few days.
 

Madison

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@#2 -- In the past (aka once) I didn't let my novel sit. I was just too excited. I don't exactly regret it, but I think the critical distance could have helped my story a lot. Right now I am giving critical distance... I finished editing my WIP about a week and a half ago. A couple people are beta-ing right now and I haven't touched it once. Well, once but not twice :)

And it's going to be soooo much better for it. I can already think more clearly about plot/structure/characters/etc, and hearing feedback is literally priceless.

Gotta admit, though, that I did send off eleven queries already.... haha. But so far I've had no rqs, so I'm not stressing about making any necessary changes before I have to send a full to someone.
 

TheIT

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Letting my first first draft sit is how I ended up with two first drafts. To get distance from my first novel draft, I wrote the first draft of a second novel. I'm back to revising the first one now. Doing something else definitely helped me achieve a much needed perspective on the work.

Sometimes when writing a first draft, it's way to easy to focus on the details. Too much time spent planting trees means one loses the shape of the forest.
 

MsGneiss

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1) Yes, that happens to me all the time. Some of the bigger threads have turned into inside jokes, and as I'm obviously not a part of the inside-joke-clique I feel too intimidated to jump in (although, when I do, I'm often ignored, so at least that is comforting).

2) Yes, again, you are right. With my first book, I didn't do this, and in turn, ended up going through a painfully long revision process with my agent (unrealistically patient lady, obviously). With book #2, I finished the first draft pretty quickly, but I am taking my time on the revisions. I had a couple of beta readers look through it, which was also incredibly useful. So, I am definitely a big believer of waiting, letting it sit, editing, rinsing, and repeating, until it's good enough.
 

ishtar'sgate

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1)
2) A lot of the advice I've read says to finish your project - set it aside - wait a reasonable amount of time - then go back and edit. Then set it aside - rinse and repeat. This is actually very good advice, and I know when I have had to work too much or when I get that absolute need to start jotting the outlines of another story down so I am forced to stay away from my novel for a few days, it really is much easier to edit. And the changes I make are much better. BUT... as I have not sent my first novel off to an agent yet (it's the first one I'm in the process of editing), how can you STAND to take the extra days to set it aside like you need to? :e2hammer:Luckily, I am patiently (not) forcing myself to do this, because I know that my novel will thank me for it in the end. It better. :guns:
A few days doesn't do me any good. I put it away for a couple of months and concentrate on something else entirely. Good for you that a few days does the trick.
 

Karen Junker

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Well, sleep, I'm not ignoring you...it's just that I don't know you well enough to insult you in a public forum. :)

(Isn't that how it works? I haven't caught on to the culture around here yet)
 

MsGneiss

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Well, sleep, I'm not ignoring you...it's just that I don't know you well enough to insult you in a public forum. :)

(Isn't that how it works? I haven't caught on to the culture around here yet)

I'm still trying to figure it out too. Different subforums have different subcultures... you check them out, see where you fit in! But I don't mind the insults... apparently, if you follow them with an emoticon, everyone will be alerted that your intentions are humorous and good. :hooray: See?
 

Emrys

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LOL! I haven't been insulted yet, but...only 14 posts.

Ishtar - maybe it's more like a few weeks? :smile:

I finished my first draft, and started editing right away. Small stuff, a better word here, change a phrase there...it didn't do much to improve the story. Then, work calls and I'm driving around the cities for a few days, or get called to go to Canada overnight... all of a sudden almost a week has went by without looking at it. Then when I do edit, I can only do so much of a chunk at a time. So, I am working on my first edit of Chapter Three today, I'm almost two-thirds of the way done. Although, Chapter Four is already finished. Weird how that happened. But, this stretched out the editing process, so that by the time I get to Chapter Five, it will have been about a month and a half or more since I finished it.

Now, for my coffee refill...
 

Maryn

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I'm an old-timer here and I still hesitate to post on the 'serious' writing threads, since so many people are so much more knowledgeable and experienced than I am. (I am, however, a skilled parrot repeating what others say.)

How do I stand the set-it-aside periods? I'm in one now. What I'm doing is writing-related, just mostly unrelated to that novel. I'm jotting myself notes on it when I think of anything, but mostly I'm beta-reading someone's novel, messing with some short stories, and debating what my next big writing effort should be. So whatever you do while that novel 'ripens,' find something that's related to writing and might improve your skills.

Maryn, who got rained on when she did her miles and is still wet
 

stormie

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As for question #1, if the thread is too long, I read the first page, jump to the last, then post my response. Sometimes threads get derailed mid-thread then get back on track.

As for question #2, when I put my work aside, I go onto something else. Takes my mind off the work I put aside.
 

Mr Flibble

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As for question #2, when I put my work aside, I go onto something else. Takes my mind off the work I put aside.

Me too

I work on a first draft of something

Then I first draft something else, or go and polish another WIP while the first one 'rests'

Then I go back and polish the first one
 

KTC

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i'm on no timeline, as i really don't care if the ultimate goal happens or not. i do know that i would never want to be pompous enough to think i'd be able to give my own work a good edit after just finishing it. i have no problem setting something aside for 2 months, 3 months, 6 months, a year. the further i distance myself from it the more i forget. then i have to pay greater attention to it. for me, it's almost like i'm reading the work of somebody else when i put it down for a few months. i have a remarkably bad memory. i remember picking up manuscripts that i wrote months prior and not knowing anything about them...even being surprised that certain characters even exist. it's a burden to have a bad memory...but not when you're editing your own work...at that point, it becomes a benefit.

put it aside for a few months---otherwise, you'll be reading things the way you think they are on the page, not the way they actually are. you can't be a good editor of your own work if the work is fresh in your mind.
 

Susan B

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Re: 2: Yes, I'm struggling with that myself. I've been working on and off on my NaNoWriMo draft since November. I never officially set it aside, though there have been times that I haven't worked much on it, since I've also been busy during this time promoting my first book, which came out in January. (I also have a day job.)

Officially this is revision #3 of the novel, but there have been constant ongoing smaller tweaks, too. I'd hoped to get it to my agent this month, but just e-mailed to let her know it won't be till next month. I tell myself it can't be perfect before I send it on, and the stakes are a little different when you already have an agent. I should think of it as a chance to get feedback, right? But it's tough to let it go.

Good luck!
 
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