On a previous occasion I was writing about all the various ways in which I was avoiding doing the editing on my novel. Two conclusions you, gentle readers, helped me come to were: 1. I needed to set deadlines, and 2. I really was doing everything possible to avoid editing seeing how I was even willing to write about avoiding editing instead of editing.
Now, while I know the second comment was made in jest, I understood it was also true. I really needed to get over myself and get to work. What I needed was a deadline of some sort that would give me something to shoot for.
I'm not very good with arbitrary deadlines, ones that have no real meaning, because I know that nothing is going to happen if I miss it. With nothing dependent on me finishing I can always find an excuse not to get something done. Hell I've even got a built in excuse that I can use any time I want, a serious chronic pain condition.
What I needed was some sort of real target to shoot for. I was able to write the damn thing in the first place, so I don't see why I shouldn't be able to edit it. No matter what my body or my health dictates, I can and will get this done. It may just take a little more morphine.
I decided the time had come for drastic action. Thanks to a writer over at Desicritics I discovered a publisher in India that has just started publishing fiction and who has a distributor in Canada and the United States.
Well, I've had a query letter on standby for about a month so I finished it off and inserted the necessary names and salutations in the proper spots. Conveniently enough, I've had the first three chapters ready to go for ages. The motivation was there as that's what most people want to see to start with. So it was just a matter of one last check for typos (found three) and away we go.
Article comments
1 - Elvira Black
Congrats, Richard--that's a monumental step. Isn't it great when you read over something and say--"how the heck did I do that?"
2 - John Spivey
Reading the words out loud is a good thing. It really shows where the prose gets clunky and needs polishing out. I'm happy you can get excited by your own words. I think we have to preserve a sense of wonder about what we create.
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