I have just the one obsession this week. And it's not cute or funny or fun.
I've hit a revision wall. A pretty big one. One that had me in tears all day yesterday.
At first, I was feeling pretty good about the whole thing. I would have reacted to the idea that there might even *be* a revision wall like this gentleman here:
'There's no revision wall! There won't be one either! This whole project is looking pretty good!
But yesterday I finally realized there is an honest-to-goodness revision wall for this project, and no matter which way my poor beleaguered brain approached it, this happened:
(*wince* Poor Hedwig.)
But I'm actually pretty sure it doesn't exist. I might come out on the other side, but if I do, it's gonna be an unrecognizable hot (cold?) mess.
Unfortunately, I'm a muggle, and there's no magical Hogwarts Revisions Express to take me from draft to queryable MS. *sigh*
Anyway. This weekend I'm obsessed with trying to make a decision about what exactly to do with ONE. My choices are: minor revisions, and hope for the best, or shelve for later and tackle a major overhaul some other time. Probably when this baby-on-the-way starts sleeping through the night. (Translation: about a year from now.)
You know? Now that I watch all these .gifs, and think of the snow falling outside in the 614, I might be obsessed with Harry Potter movies this weekend too.
Your turn! What were you obsessed with this week?
been obsessed with distractions! so I've been watching shows and reading a lot. basically anything that's motivated me to write/work on my story before :) I have one more trick up my sleeve, though. maybe two.
ReplyDeletethis week I've been obsessed with... nothing :)
ReplyDeleteHope you can tear that stupid wall down. Maybe taking the weekend off, or a week off, let your mind rest. I'm sure you'll find a way :)
Don't forget... Harry eventually got through to the platform on the other side.
ReplyDeleteSit and stew for a while. That's what I'm doing, because I'm not quite in the revision frame of mind either. I'm actually more interested in seeing what I can do with yours than with my own, which tells me mine needs some marinating time. Or I need some sanity time, or both. Then when we're ready, we can put a ramp up against that wall, rev up our bitch bikes and go all Evel Knievel on our damn revisions.
But right now... a nap sounds way better.
I'm 100% with Gina. Sit n' stew on your baby. You've obviously given it a TON of love. Give it some space, n' let it (and yourself) breathe. I go all crazy-freakin'-Incredible-Hulk-wanna-kill when I finish a draft, thinking I AM SO CLOSE TO THE END, n' then realize the journey has only really begun.
ReplyDeleteStep back from it. Put your heart somewhere else for a couple of days. When you come back to ONE, your heart will be able to guide you again, once the smoke clears....
As always, your other CPers are so right--time away is magical.
ReplyDeleteOr--talk about it with one of your CPs--getting out all those words about what you want to do with ONE and how it makes you feel to make those changes can also be magical.
Or--have someone else do some of it. I know that sounds crazy, but Marie and I do it from time to time. Need a scene rewritten? Send it my way and tell me what you need. Odds are that you will end up changing it completely, but it makes the whole thing a lot more fun.
THanks everyone! You all are WONDERFUL! <3
ReplyDeleteI've been obsessing over the start (like first 150 words) of my new WIP all week. Hours and hours on just a few words. I think I'm almost there.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your MS!
AW, I hope you find a magical car (a.k.a. the hard but wonderful solution!) to get you through. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteLet it rest for awhile as you'll probably come back to it with a vengeance. Harry did get there by other means.
ReplyDeleteAll the best.
First of all, I did not know you have a baby inside you. So I scrolled through the last 9 posts I've missed during my travel frenzy to see where I missed the announcement. Apparently it was before I started reading your lovely blog (but I could be wrong; it was a quick scan). So here's a (probably belated) Congrats!!! That's very exciting.
ReplyDeleteAs far as your revision wall, I say put it away. Stephen King puts drafts away for 6 to 8 weeks. When you come back to it, your eyes will be fresh and you'll see the ms. in a whole new way and I'll bet it won't take you long to figure out how to fix the problem. Good luck!!
Aaah, good luck! I hope manage to kick that wall down :) (my obsession the past two week's has been outlining... -_-;)
ReplyDeleteI totes know what you mean. I've been revising for what seems like forever and realized I needed a major overhaul. I decided to outline/storyboard everything again, because it wasn't flowing how I wanted it; while I was outlining, I got a bunch of ideas on how to fix the major problems, so I think reorganizing is a good idea. Time away is always a good thing but when I tried to start something new, I realized I loved this story too much to start anything different, which propelled me out of my revision slump. (Also talking it out and bouncing ideas off other people always helps me).
ReplyDelete