I'm wincing at the stupidity of publicly pronouncing my goal completion date for this draft. I'm woefully behind, and although I thought it was a realistic goal, I have yet to meet my targeted number of pages for the day. I am making progress, but it's been painfully slow. I linger over sentences for ages--dwelling on each word--maybe finishing a page an hour at the most. I wish I could work faster, but I suppose this is my process. Any advice from the cheering section? I need a little shove, but please don't be too hard on me if I miss my mark.
I don't have any volunteers for the Pay it Forward gesture yet, so I'm making one final plea. I would love to put together parcels for three participants, and I swear it's fun and inspirational! If you want to participate, leave a comment on my post. By volunteering you agree to pay it forward to three more people on your own blog once you receive your package.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Woeful Winces
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6 comments:
Roll up, roll up for Angie's 'Pay It Forward' gesture!
Right, hmmm, a kick up the bum, huh? I'm not sure about that. I write really slowly too... 600 words after four hours is good for me. Maybe I'll never be able to churn more out.
As far as I'm aware, considering every word is the right way to go about it. The reason (I've read) that most mss get rejected is that they aren't the best they could be.
Keep at it Angie, bite by bite, word by word.
(It's not really been a kick up the bum, has it?)
Big hugs, you're doing great.
Hi Angie,
Slow process, fast process, whatever process. We all have our own process. What suits you is best for you. You're doing fine. Keep up the brilliant work! I'm a perfectionist too, and sometimes I could spend an hour on a damn sentence. Painstaking it is, but that is my process. And usually, I come away feeling good I spent the time that sentence deserved. I admit, there have been times when I've agonised over a word or a sentence and it all came to nothing but DELETE. Writing is hard but if you keep on keeping on it's all worth it. I keep Anne Lamott's book Bird by Bird close by. It's like a friend to me. Keeps me afloat when I feel like I'm drowning. So keep tapping...
Angie, not sure if you remember me but we were did the Nike marathon together through TnT. I'd love to be part of your pay if forward group.
http://byemissamericanpie.blogspot.com/
Thanks, JJ. :)
I think you're doing it the right way. I wrote the first draft quickly and now I'm paying for it by laboring over every word in the second draft. I agree that it'll pay off in the end. My mss is already looking much better, but it's a painfully slow process and I get impatient.
The encouragement is helpful. Cheers!
Aspiring, you're right. Sometimes I think it would be great to churn out work as fast as some writers can, but that'll never be me because I'm a perfectionist as well. It is satisfying to get the words just right though.
I still haven't read Bird by Bird, but people keep recommending it, so I think I'll bump it up in my reading list.
Thanks. :)
TV, yes, I do remember you. :) When you first moved to London, you sent your blog link, and I've enjoyed reading about your adventures. London is my favorite place (if you hadn't guessed).
It would be great if you participated. Please send your mailing address to my email at angie(dot)london(at)gmail(dot)com.
Hope you're enjoying London!
I commented under the Pay it Forward entry....I'd love to participate!
Alisia
Thanks for visiting, Alisia.
I popped on over to your blog. It's always nice to meet other writers. :)
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