Progress

I love this quote and believe it to be true! It has been for me anyway. In July I thought about what I had left to do with my current manuscript in order to get it submitted. I was in the process of revising and making the second draft. I knew I needed to complete that one and go through it one more time. So, with that in mind I gave myself an August 19th deadline. I'm thrilled to say that I am on track to meet my given deadline - which when I gave it was six weeks out. The way I've done this is by working each day. Some days I've been able to do a lot and others only a little but it has all added up to progress!

One step closer

This is a printed copy of my manuscript. I was having a difficult time with the editing of it and my writing partner suggested printing it out. I don't know why exactly but reading through and marking up a paper copy of my book made a HUGE difference in the revision process for me! This afternoon I finished polishing it up and plugging in some of the holes in the story. Now I need to make all of the changes in my electronic copy. Hopefully that won't take too long, though. Then I'll be ready to send it off to the publishing house that is expecting it. I hope they acquire it! Even so, I'm one step closer to achieving my publishing goal and dream. Also, I'm proud of this story and the work I've put into it already!

It is important

This quote is SO true! I realized last week that I was dragging my feet in regard to revising my current manuscript. I decided enough was enough and that I needed to buckle down and get things DONE! I am happy to say that over the past week I have completed twelve chapters of this round of revision! I have four to go and then I need to put all the revisions into my electronic document. At the moment I am working off of a printed copy of my manuscript. It has been amazing to revise this way! I have things crossed out, written in and questions about plot holes written in the margins. It has been a completely different experience revising on paper rather than on the computer screen. I have no idea why but it is the truth for me! I'm actually excited to be doing revision which is odd for me. I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on this project and I am happier with it each day. 

A new way of editing

I have heard time and time again that it is helpful to print out a physical copy of something when editing. I was reluctant to do this for a long time because of the cost involved. However, this past week, thanks to a friend sharing her discount, I printed out my entire manuscript, had it three-hole punched and put it in a binder. When I sat down to revise I started at the beginning again rather than about one-third of the way through it where I was. It's amazing but I immediately found things I wanted to change that made the story better and perhaps even stronger.

I've heard that the eye sees things it misses while reading a paper copy rather than reading and trying to edit on a computer screen. I have absolutely no idea why that is and the opinions about it seem to be varied. However, I can say that editing on paper is definitely working for me. Even more of a revelation to me is that I am actually enjoying the editing now. Hopefully that continues and I can get through the revisions more quickly then get this manuscript finally submitted.