Impatience.

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enyouse
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Impatience.

Post by enyouse » December 21st, 2010, 5:00 pm

Writing has made me very, very impatient. A MONTH ago, I finished the first draft of my current writing thingy (typing "Novel" gives it too much power too often). My writing process was fairly intense. I have now spent three whole weekends NOT writing while the PS (patient spouse) reads the first draft. PS (persistent spouse) has told me that I should let it sit for a month before editing. I do not want to.

PS (published spouse) insists that waiting is better, healthier. PS (poet spouse) perhaps is envisioning a different type of editing process -Maybe more emotionally wrenching, but mostly fourteen lines at a time- and I want to start NOW NOW NOW. I feel like I'm hopping on one foot, trying not to think about waterfalls, and there's someone in the bathroom reading the paper.

So:

Impatience - Do you have it? Do you want want want want to work work work work work all the time, or is it more of a calm experience for you? Are you impatient during the day/week so that you can get to the evening/weekend, so you can finally sit down and write?

Editing - do you let things sit? Does it help? How much? Do you start something new in between writing and editing?

More Importantly: How big of a Christmas present should PS get for bringing me coffee and wine and snacks and taking care of all of the housework while I've been engaging in 32 hour writing sessions every weekend since/including our honeymoon?

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Watcher55
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Re: Impatience.

Post by Watcher55 » December 21st, 2010, 5:18 pm

enyouse wrote:More Importantly: How big of a Christmas present should PS get for bringing me coffee and wine and snacks and taking care of all of the housework while I've been engaging in 32 hour writing sessions every weekend since/including our honeymoon?
Maybe a second honeymoon without things you can compose with.

I went two whole days without working on the book (can we say book?). That was Thanksgiving and the day after. The hell of it is I was going to stop until after this Saturday. I rationalized it by telling myself I wasn't "really" working on the book. I was researching agents and joining Bransforum to find help researching agents and writing queries.

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dios4vida
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Re: Impatience.

Post by dios4vida » December 21st, 2010, 5:28 pm

enyouse wrote:Impatience - Do you have it? Do you want want want want to work work work work work all the time, or is it more of a calm experience for you? Are you impatient during the day/week so that you can get to the evening/weekend, so you can finally sit down and write?

Editing - do you let things sit? Does it help? How much? Do you start something new in between writing and editing?

More Importantly: How big of a Christmas present should PS get for bringing me coffee and wine and snacks and taking care of all of the housework while I've been engaging in 32 hour writing sessions every weekend since/including our honeymoon?
I'm not an impatient writer, I'm a guilty non-writer. When I'm not writing or actively working on my WIP I feel guilty. Like I'm abandoning my characters and not doing anything worthwhile (I don't have a day job so the only thing I do is housewifey stuff and writing). It motivates me to work but a lot of the time I just stare at the screen with nothing productive going on.

As to editing, I usually do let things sit. I try for a few weeks but I usually only make it a week, maybe two, before the red pen starts calling me. I find it helps to clear the mind from all the ins and outs of the plot and everything so that you can look at it with fresher eyes. Jumping straight in tends to render my first edit rather useless because I'm still so wrapped up in my story that I don't see the mechanical errors and typos and plot holes.

Lastly: a great big'un. Something that'll make up for a honeymoon spent staring at one's new spouse's back rather than more exciting areas. PS definitely deserves something they've been longing for, like that new <fill-in-the-blank> they've been hinting at.
Brenda :)

Inspiration isn't about the muse. Inspiration is working until something clicks. ~Brandon Sanderson

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cheekychook
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Re: Impatience.

Post by cheekychook » December 22nd, 2010, 12:55 am

enyouse wrote: So:

Impatience - Do you have it? Do you want want want want to work work work work work all the time, or is it more of a calm experience for you? Are you impatient during the day/week so that you can get to the evening/weekend, so you can finally sit down and write?

Editing - do you let things sit? Does it help? How much? Do you start something new in between writing and editing?

More Importantly: How big of a Christmas present should PS get for bringing me coffee and wine and snacks and taking care of all of the housework while I've been engaging in 32 hour writing sessions every weekend since/including our honeymoon?

Impatience: I totally suffer from this. When I am working on something I have to HAVE TO keep working on it.

Editing: I force myself to let things sit because YES it helps. A lot. Like really a lot. Do it. Sometimes I start something else, or just read other people's stuff, or work on query letters or synopses instead---but LET THE WORK SIT. Really makes a huge difference.

Christmas gift: HUGE. Seriously.

Good luck. :)
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A La Vanille
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Re: Impatience.

Post by A La Vanille » December 22nd, 2010, 2:42 am

I do have impatience. I am impatient to finish my novel, yet I am being horribly counterproductive and not writing anything. It's all my fault, really. I have all the time in the world. I suppose you could say I am calm, and not quite too eager.
Anyways, I would agree with your spouse. It's best to let your book on hold, and do some other things. That way when you look back on it, you can edit/revise it with fresh, new eyes. Though, don't wait too long. I made this mistake and ended up not editing it at all - forever procrastinating it into the next day.
I should really start writing, even though it's almost midnight.
Anyways, I let things sit for about 3 weeks max and then go back to it. I do find it helpful, because after I finish a novel, I am still in that first draft mode. If edit it then, then it's probably still going to turn out as-bad-as-a-first-draft. I do start something new inbetween writing and editing, just for some new, fresh ideas and outlook, though my editing is my top priority.
To answer your last question: A very big Christmas present.

Cheers!

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Cookie
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Re: Impatience.

Post by Cookie » December 22nd, 2010, 9:53 am

It depends. If I get into the mood, I am totally impatient and will sometimes even work on my MS at work. It is literally all I can think about. Other times, not so much. I let my current MS sit for 6 months while I worked on other ideas that I had formulating in the back of my mind. I went back to it a few weeks ago to revise it, and there are so many things I have found wrong with it that I hadn't noticed before in my impatience. So I say wait. Your MS will thank you.

And for your spouse, I'm going with Dios4vida on this, a second honeymoon -- someplace warm and remote.

RachelHowzell
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Re: Impatience.

Post by RachelHowzell » December 22nd, 2010, 12:14 pm

I am also impatient. So much so that I rush through edits sometimes just so I can be done with them. Over the last year or so, I've improved on this. Taken lots of deep breaths. Lots.

And because my PS is a slow reader and because I am impatient, I read my draft to him. A few chapters every night. It helps fend off the crazies.

Rachel
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Author of The View from Here - available for 99 cents at Amazon.

Please visit me at http://www.writinginmycar.blogspot.com.

bcomet
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Re: Impatience.

Post by bcomet » December 22nd, 2010, 1:10 pm

Boy oh Boy. Impatience. Yes.
And what it does... it makes me want to tell and not take the time to show and open up the world and live in it while I'm writing, the way a story needs me to. (And then this happened and then that and the end! Bwahahaha!)

But letting a work sit is also very hard. I worry then, that I'll lose the story, that it will slide down the river of time, away, away.

Best of luck. Having someone and/or a crit partner or group who is dedicated/devoted to your getting it right and completed is just the best. And then you can still have the crazies and someone will pull you back.

Louise Curtis
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Re: Impatience.

Post by Louise Curtis » December 22nd, 2010, 5:09 pm

Impatience = YES.

Here's my cunning plan for you: Enter your book in a contest when you feel it's ready. This year, if you like. I'm entering http://www.terrypratchett.co.uk/news/te ... tions.html which is free, but has restrictions on genre and length.

Why this strategy works: Because you can't send it anywhere else during a contest - which is good for your editing, because when the contest is done (I'm assuming you're not a supergenius who is published first go - the odds of that are about 1 in 50,000) you can re-edit with a fresh perspective (both from the time that's passed and from the shock of a lack of instant success after all the hard work of writing a book). And you haven't blown your chance with any agent or publisher.

The best part: You'll know exactly when the shortlist is going to be posted. Believe me, this is the best thing about competitions.

Side note: Entry fees are generally okay up to maybe $50, but if they charge you any money after that, they are a scam.

My own horrifying tale:

I wrote a novella for a contest when I was 16. It was awarded third most publishable, and I later half-sold, half-donated it to Vision Australia for production as an audio book.

That was twelve years ago. I've averaged a book a year since then. None have been sold (one of them won me $50 or so in a contest for first chapters). I've thrown away three whole manuscripts, and rewritten three others. In 2006 I stopped working to write full-time, and although I had to go back to work after nine months, I still spend 20 hours a week writing - that's around a thousand hours per year for four years. All without getting a novel published (incidentally, that audio book was never produced either).

My lack of novel success isn't because I'm some kind of talentless hack (or, not entirely). I've won or placed in more than twenty short story contests, had stories published around the world (that's paid publication) and three years ago one of my books went to the acquisitions meeting at Allen & Unwin (one of only five large Australian publishers) - that's the final stage before publication. It was rejected.

In my experience, agents/publishers say (and honestly believe) they take three months, but they usually take six (whether it's the opening chapters or the full MS). Right now I have a book at another major publisher that has been there A YEAR AND A HALF. It's the same book that was nearly published three years ago, except I've drastically improved it since then. Will it be published? I don't know. It could be many more months - maybe even years - before I find out. And it could still be a no. Probably, based on how it's been progressing (I'm in contact with the 2IC of the YA department), it'll all be decided at their acquisitions meeting. Which gives it a 50/50 chance (if it gets that far).

Side note #1: Never hassle an agent or publisher about your book until at least six months have passed, and never be rude (especially online) unless you want to remain unpublished forever.

Side note #2: In Australia, an agent is useful but not necessary. In the UK and USA, you need an agent first. http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2010/12/ye ... -2010.html has some VERY informative agent stats.

You may also like this from my own blog - what publishers do with your submission. https://twittertales.wordpress.com/2010 ... your-book/

Your spouse deserves a brilliant Christmas. But then, so do you. Writing a book is an achievement in itself, and should be celebrated.
Louise Curtis
Twitter Tales @Louise_Curtis_
Writing Tips, Steampunk, Baby Talk, and Daily Awesomeness http://twittertales.wordpress.com

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