Why does it feel like university all over again?

Toothpaste · Nov 23, 2006

Okay so I am just procrastinating here, starting this thread. I have a novel to edit. An edited novel due in less than two weeks to my publisher (and agent), and I just don't wanna.

When I was in university I felt the same way about essays. And then I took a playwrighting class. All I wanted to do was work on that, write it, edit it, anything so long as I wasn't writing some thesis. I want to get that feeling back. I hate that editing this book feels like so much work. I guess also because it is so long that it seems like it will be forever until I finish it. And I have some huge edits coming up (right now it's just little things line by line). I want it to be fun again!!

Sigh.

Anyway, just a little rant. I REALLY have to get to work. To just do it. And I will. Just right this second, man I so don't want to.

Thanks for listening.

Toothpaste

Birol · Nov 23, 2006

It's okay. This is the part of writing no one warned us about. We were such suckers.

Cav Guy · Nov 23, 2006

Editing's always painful. It's like going back and looking at your stuff and realizing what's wrong with it, or finding more stuff wrong than you thought, or "why did I write this crap?". Things like that. Vent away, and then hit it.

johnzakour · Nov 23, 2006

Editing is just one of those things you may not want to do but you have to do it for your own good. For me it’s kind of like forcing myself to work out when I don't feel like it.

Just be happy we have computers now which makes the process somewhat less painful. When I have editing in front of me I always think, “Wow Shakespeare wrote all that material with even having a typewriter. Certainly I can’t gripe about cutting and pasting…” (I do anyways though.)

The good thing about editing like hitting your head against a door, it feels so good when it’s over.

janetbellinger · Nov 23, 2006

And don't I just wish I had a novel due to be submitted in two weeks to an agent or publisher, lol

Toothpaste said:
Okay so I am just procrastinating here, starting this thread. I have a novel to edit. An edited novel due in less than two weeks to my publisher (and agent), and I just don't wanna.

When I was in university I felt the same way about essays. And then I took a playwrighting class. All I wanted to do was work on that, write it, edit it, anything so long as I wasn't writing some thesis. I want to get that feeling back. I hate that editing this book feels like so much work. I guess also because it is so long that it seems like it will be forever until I finish it. And I have some huge edits coming up (right now it's just little things line by line). I want it to be fun again!!

Sigh.

Anyway, just a little rant. I REALLY have to get to work. To just do it. And I will. Just right this second, man I so don't want to.

Thanks for listening.

Toothpaste

Tracy · Nov 24, 2006

Editing's never fun, but it's an essential part of the process. Just do it.

Sassenach · Nov 24, 2006

Toothpaste said:
Okay so I am just procrastinating here, starting this thread. I have a novel to edit. An edited novel due in less than two weeks to my publisher (and agent), and I just don't wanna.

I hate that editing this book feels like so much work. I guess also because it is so long that it seems like it will be forever until I finish it. And I have some huge edits coming up (right now it's just little things line by line). I want it to be fun again!!

Sigh.

Anyway, just a little rant. I REALLY have to get to work. To just do it. And I will. Just right this second, man I so don't want to.

Thanks for listening.

Toothpaste

Part of being a professional is doing the work, even when it's not fun. [Another is not bitching about it in a venue where many of the participants would love to be in your place.]

aliajohnson · Nov 24, 2006

This is why it's said you should never do what you love for a living. It takes all the fun out. I don't actually agree with that, but I will say I enjoy writing the story more than I enjoy making it readable for others (just agents at this point).
.
And yeah, it feels like college all over again. As I was queen of writing the thirty page lab reports the night before, I've got no business handing out advice.

Gonna anyway.

Just think about how great it will feel to have it done. How relieved you'll be to not have it sitting there, berating you for ignoring it.
In other words, concentrate on the end goal rather than the process.
Or vent a little--let me know how that nugget of wisdom is really just a nugget of sh-t. Everybody needs to grumble now and then, and I can take it.

Toothpaste · Nov 24, 2006

Sassenach,

Ouch. Sorry. I know it isn't the world's biggest problem to contend with, but it was something that was really frustrating me at the time and I knew that if anyone would understand what I was going through it would be the AW gang. So we are only allowed to vent if we aren't in a position that others would envy (and I don't really think my position is that special because I have such faith that most people here will be in this position at some point, if they aren't already)? I am not allowed to have problems, or discover new frustrations I never considered might arise when things suddenly went well for me? I'm sorry if it came across as 'bitching'. I meant only to vent. And I really truly appreciated the responses I received.

I'm sorry if I hurt you. My intention was never to hurt. Truly.

Everyone else, thanks for the support. And also for the practical "just do it" advice. Sometimes I really need to hear that!

Alia, I so know what you mean! My friend loved opera, went to school to study to be a singer, and now can't listen to anyone sing because all she hears is the strain in people's voices etc. But don't worry, I still love the writing. A lot!

SpookyWriter · Nov 24, 2006

Good luck with the editing. I hate it. I guess you could say that it might be because sometimes I can't see the trees from the forrest. I find the second set of eyes much more useful and help to pick out the stuff I missed because my vision was blurred from reading the material ten or twenty times.

Sean D. Schaffer · Nov 24, 2006

Toothpaste said:
Okay so I am just procrastinating here, starting this thread. I have a novel to edit. An edited novel due in less than two weeks to my publisher (and agent), and I just don't wanna.

When I was in university I felt the same way about essays. And then I took a playwrighting class. All I wanted to do was work on that, write it, edit it, anything so long as I wasn't writing some thesis. I want to get that feeling back. I hate that editing this book feels like so much work. I guess also because it is so long that it seems like it will be forever until I finish it. And I have some huge edits coming up (right now it's just little things line by line). I want it to be fun again!!

Sigh.

Anyway, just a little rant. I REALLY have to get to work. To just do it. And I will. Just right this second, man I so don't want to.

Thanks for listening.

Toothpaste

Deadlines can be a tough thing to handle, Toothpaste. But if you start work on it now, you won't be in such a huge rush to get it done later on.

I wish you well with your novel. Good luck to you.

PeeDee · Nov 24, 2006

Deadlines mostly make me work harder and faster, except for when they're for something I'm not particularly inspired to be writing (is staring at an article just like that right now).

I'm not a natural editor either, which makes it worse. Mostly, what I do, is I set mini-deadlines for myself. I have to edit three chapters of my novel tonight, and because I work a busy day tomorrow, I have to only edit two chapters tomorrow night.

Someone (I'm sorry, I can't remember who) around here suggested that you take the work piecemeal with you into the bath and edit there, a chapter or so at a time. I think this is a magnificant idea, and I can't wait to try it.

Mostly, I just knuckle down and do it. When editing, I tend to lurk heavily on these forums, to give myself a break every few minutes that doesn't involve anything that would make me wander away too badly.

aliajohnson · Nov 24, 2006

The bathroom idea is nasty, and hilarious, and pretty clever. I'm giving that one a shot. It could get disorganized, though. Did he/she mention a system or a set up like a little desk they had permanently available in the bathroom, or was it more of a grab a big hard book and use it as a lap top desk?

ATP · Nov 25, 2006

Hmmm....perhaps this is one of the differences between fiction and
non-fiction writers. As a full-time non-fiction writer, I don't perceive the final product ie. an article so much in terms of the 'creative' and then the 'mundane' components. Article writing represents the second last major step before submission in a process with components that have their good and bad points. Each one is essential, and each must be done well, in order to satisfy the customer (editor). Viewing the creation of an article as a giant jigsaw puzzle, editing is the chance to get the piece to come together and 'shine.'.In a sense, the editing could be viewed as the finishing touches to getting dressed up for a 'date', with the editor or publisher or agent.A bit of preening, perhaps...?

This experience is not purely the province of non-fiction writers. However, the magnitude of the task might not be so onerous as having to edit a novel. But, as PeeDee indicates, breaking the task down - any task - to manageable 'bits', might make the going easier.

Toothpaste · Nov 25, 2006

Very interesting ATP. I don't think I would say I consider editing 'mundane' and I am definitely with you that editing really is putting those finishing touches on. I think for me the frustration stems from knowing what needs to be fixed, and not being able to actualise it. And I do think as well that length does have something to do with it, which is why the advice on just taking it one step at the time really works for me. Also there are major changes my editor wants that I disagreed with and we talked and talked and came to a happy consensus (and I really like what we came up with), but at the same time I am going to miss what was originally there. And you must remember too that this is definitely not my first edit, in fact it will be one of my last, so there is this sense of never ending changes. As well as the HUGE fear of what if I miss something, what if my editor likes what I've done, accepts it, we move onto the next phase, and I see major things that need to be fixed. I know this will happen, because I don't think one ever thinks what one has written is perfect. Still . . .

However guys, I am happy to say I have been being a good girl and editing away! And as ever, thank you soooooo much for the support! In the end, it's all about just getting it done!

Why does it feel like university all over again?

Toothpaste

THE RECKLESS RESCUE is out now!

Birol

Around and About

Cav Guy

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johnzakour

Dangerous with a Keyboard

janetbellinger

Tracy

Sassenach

5 W's & an H

aliajohnson

Toothpaste

THE RECKLESS RESCUE is out now!

SpookyWriter

Sean D. Schaffer

PeeDee

Where's my tea, please...?

aliajohnson

ATP

What happened to my LIFE?!

Toothpaste

THE RECKLESS RESCUE is out now!