So, I've had some revisions that were suggested by a couple beta readers and my critique partner. For some reason, I've been putting them off for quite awhile. I knew I had to do them. I'm not sure what was stopping me. It's like...my book was done. I wrote, revised, revised, revised, revised. The End. And then I found out it wasn't the end and my brain just sort of balked and didn't want to deal with it.
In the meantime I'm in all these contests and stuff--so, on the chance that something comes from one of them, I have to actually finish the damn book. haha. So, today I finally got around to doing my revisions. And--lo and behold, I'm kind of having fun. I knew in my head the book needed to be changed, but I'm not sure I knew it in my heart. I think some part of me was resistant to changing something I'd worked so hard on. But I'm SO glad I got over my mental block. Because, now that it's in black and white, I can see how much better the book is.
Have any of you guys ever had a situation like this? Do you find it hard to continue revising after you think you're done? Or do you not make the mistake of thinking your done until you're positive you're done revisions?
Also, on a totally different note, it's Teaser Tuesday again. -sponsored by Should Be Reading Anyone can play along. Just grab your current read, open to a random page, and share two teaser sentences from somewhere on the page. Be careful not to include spoilers!! Share the title and author too, so other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they want. Today's excerpt is:
She is silent for awhile, and I'm about to show myself, when she suddenly laughs, closing her eyes and shaking her head. I actually miss that stupid... I miss R. I know that's crazy, but is it really that crazy?
That's from Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion. If you haven't checked this book out yet, do it!! Awesome, beautiful book!! Totally different than anything else I've read. I LOVE it!!
And, lastly, I was asking everyone to vote for my pony before the voting even started. Oops. haha. Anyway, if you want to be hugely awesome and click HERE to vote in the correct poll, my pony is Cacee by Tamara. My daughter drew her and she's really excited about this contest. It's so cute. She checks the site like ten times a day to see where the voting is. So, it would be awesome if you guys would vote, cause she'd be ecstatic if the pony she drew actually won. :)
I'm SO in the 'putting it off' stage. I know that my book needs some things moved around, and there is some definite culling I can do to streamline, which I've come to terms with. The thing is, the ending really needs to be rewritten. As is, the ending is very open, and there are quite a few story lines that haven't been wrapped up. I've already cut half the story lines from the original manuscript but it's just determining which ones have to do and which ones have to stay. Such a pain!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're having fun with your edits - hopefully I will soon too!
Yeah, the ending of mine is proving to be a bit of a pain as well. I felt like it had a decent ending, but my crit partner pointed out that my one MC didn't attain her goal and no longer seems concerned with it. oops. So, I'm gonna have to fit that in there somewhere. Either that or explain why it no longer matters to her. So...yeah. ugh. Hopefully that part continues to be fun. haha
DeleteI know the feeling exactly and just jumped back in. I'm having a lot of fun with it.
ReplyDeleteThat's cool. Glad you're having a good time. that makes it so much easier. :)
DeleteCacee is killing it in the poll so far! Congrats to you both!
ReplyDeleteVoting ends at the end of the day Saturday.
Thanks for letting me know. Kass (my daughter) would be super excited if we actually won. Okay, okay...I'll admit it. I'd probably be even more excited. hehe
DeleteI have a tendency to put off revisions too. For me, there's an overwhelming need to contemplate on the feedback before I dive into editing.
ReplyDeleteI voted :) Hopefully I did it right.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Angela!
DeleteDang it! Blogger ate my comment again! *stomps around in a circle punching the air* I TRIED TO COMMENT 4 TIMES YESTERDAY!!!
ReplyDeleteOkay, now that I've settle down a bit, I'll try to remember everything I said. It was deep and profound too...something about how it's important to take your time and get it right. Then I said something else awesome that solved all of your problems for the rest of your life...if only I could remember-lol. I can see now I have to copy and paste my comments. Seriously, I do remember that I said you are in a good place now with revisions if the ideas are flowing. Don't force it. If you have to sit and look at your computer screen for three hours a day seeing nothing but a blur of words, don't panic. The ideas will come and you'll see exactly what you need to change.
Oh, also, I voted on your pony. You're in the lead!! Congrats!
I'm sorry blogger keeps eating your comments. that's really weird. I wonder if other people are having that problem?
DeleteI'm back home again! Phew. Long trip. I'm glad to be home. It will be easier to continue working on my revisions from here. It was hard at my sisters cause people interrupted me a lot. Hope your revisions are coming easily too! :)
Sounds just like me. I had to revise mine after I thought I was FINALLY done, and I put it off for months, then when I finally did it, the book turned out ten times better and all the boring stuff I didn't like went away. Too bad we cannot accept the fact we have to change the book sooner...maybe the brain doesn't work like that though.
ReplyDeleteAllons-y!
Yeah, I don't know about other people, but my brain definitely doesn't work like that. haha. I'm glad I'm doing them though. now all I have to worry about is trying to fit in the revisions while keeping the damn word count down. ugh.
DeleteI am absolutely like that. In fact, I am finishing up final revisions on a manuscript I started in 2001. My crit partner gave me her very honest assessment that what I thought was finished still needed work. I am so grateful to her that she did.
ReplyDeleteWow. 2001, huh? Had you ever queried it? Are you gonna try again after revising? good luck with it!
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