Nathan Bransford - The Forums

I’ve been working on a series for about two and a half years. I wrote the whole story (1300 pages) in a year and a half, and I’ve spend the last year editing and revising the first book, which is 350 pages long. The past five months I’ve spent revising it with 7 beta partners, who have all helped me so much more than I EVER expected (If you don’t have a beta partner, go out and find one. You’ll be glad you did!)

Yesterday, I think I hit a milestone. I finished draft number one hundred and something, and I realized that I really don’t want to read it again. This has never happened to me before. I always just start revising again from the beginning without even thinking about it.

Also, when I’m alone driving in my car, I am coming up with ideas to change things in the second book and later. I cannot even bring myself to THINK about this first installment anymore.

I don’t know, maybe that means I’m done? I still have 4 beta partners that are reading book one, so I am sure they will come up with witty suggestions as always, but other than fixing problems they bring up to me, I think maybe it’s time for me to move on.

Have you ever found yourself not wanting to read your own beloved story?

With anything I write I'm scared to reread because I'm afraid it's going to be complete crap. This has changed over the years (luckily, it's a bad habit for homework) and with my recently completely ms I've found that I get really emotional in some parts to the point where I feel like crying, but not quite there. It feels good, but mostly I don't get tired of reading, it's more like "Ugh, gotta edit again". Smoothing out the finished product gets to be a bit of a chore sometimes, I feel the same way about doing my laundry. Maybe there will be a time when I'll read my novel just for fun, but I get the feeling that no matter what I'm always going to see something that I want to change.

Not me. Never. Pure genius, that's what mine is. I never get tired of it. My critique partners never get tired of it. Not never, no how.

That's my story and I'm stickin to it.

It gets darned hard after the 5th or 6th attempt at editing/revising. Everything mixes together and I have a hard time not skipping over things.

Just did a revision of 88k words to make it ready for e-publishing and I know there were more than a few things I missed.

But, will go over it yet again before uploading it!!!!!


Check out - http://lvcabbie.blogspot.com/

I usually know I'm done with a revision when I can't even bear to look at my novel anymore and am convinced it's a massive pile of suck.

Nathan Bransford wrote:I usually know I'm done with a revision when I can't even bear to look at my novel anymore and am convinced it's a massive pile of suck.

That would make an awesome t-shirt. I'd wear it.

cheekychook wrote:

Nathan Bransford wrote:I usually know I'm done with a revision when I can't even bear to look at my novel anymore and am convinced it's a massive pile of suck.

That would make an awesome t-shirt. I'd wear it.

I at least need it on a little card I can tack up in my office. It seems like very good advice one might need in a pinch just before they toss their entire manuscript into the trash bin.

I'm kinda there right now, but I'm not done with mine. I have to edit a few more chapters and I also have a few betas reading it at the moment. Blah.

Manuscript, I know it's Valentine's Day and all but I think we should take a break. See you in a few weeks if nothing newer and shinier comes along.

Thank you for posting this. I have this image in my mind of all you "real" writers (as opposed to this "wannabe") reading through your ms with joy and satisfaction.

It's nice to know that everyone goes through the phases. It makes me feel like maybe I can do this after all.

Totally going to get one of those shirts-- Cheeky, count me in for 2!

I had to take a few weeks off from writing, got tunnel vision...

I want a shirt, too. It'll go great in my crazy-fun t-shirt collection (which includes the "Soft Kitty" song from The Big Bang Theory and a Calvin & Hobbes/Star Wars mash-up).

I've absolutely gotten tired of my own novels!! After about the fourth or fifth time through you start wondering if those characters have always been so two dimensional or those plot twists so predictable. You know everything so well that it constantly reminds you of other (famous and/or best-selling) novels or movies you like. You swear you've spent years on 100K words of drivel and not a single word is worthwhile.

That's the time that I agree with Nathan. I say that at that point I know I'm done. Then I trust my betas to tell me if it really is drivel.

I'm right there with you--at least concerning the first half of my novel. It is where I've put my energies for the last six months, and I'm so ready to be done with it so I can move on to the second half. I feel like if I let it be, then I'm going to be slowing down the over all timeline. Especially since I have made changes in the first half that will effect how the second half gets revised.

And that's why I'm interested in hiring someone to edit for typos, etc because the idea of doing that on my own makes me want to pull my hair out. And I wouldn't look good bald.

I'm going through this right now. Waiting for editorial comments from my agent, and as I'm reading over my most recent draft I keep banging my head on the table "How did I send this to her? This sucks."

Sigh.

I want a shirt too.

oldhousejunkie wrote:And that's why I'm interested in hiring someone to edit for typos, etc because the idea of doing that on my own makes me want to pull my hair out. And I wouldn't look good bald.

Don't hire someone... Find a really good beta reader. Mine point out stupid stuff all the time. One of my betas does nothing by copy-edit for me, and he's great at it. In return, I give him a really honest evaluation of his manuscript, which is what he is looking for. Find yourself a teammate! (And save some hair while you're at it.)

trixie wrote:Thank you for posting this. I have this image in my mind of all you "real" writers (as opposed to this "wannabe") reading through your ms with joy and satisfaction.

It's nice to know that everyone goes through the phases. It makes me feel like maybe I can do this after all.

Clear your mind and turn into the "Little Engine that Could". Don't think you can-- KNOW YOU CAN. If you have the heart to take the time to write, you're a writer. Stop callng yourself a wannabe. Embrace the madness and become one with the insanity found in the rest of us!

Do not deny the power of the dark side! Embrace your inner author... Become One with your keyboard!
Enjoy what you do. That's what it's all about.