I am working on Draft 2 of the book. It is a struggle. I thought that by now I would have been at least halfway through my revision. I had it all planned out! I had a schedule and dates and a lot of enthusiasm.
It didn't work out that way, Reader(s).
If you read an earlier post, you already know this. And if you have been checking the Mildred for updates on a regular basis, then you probably figured it out, too. (Why isn't Madeleine posting? I don't have a good feeling about her revision... Madeleine never completes anything! Etc.)
But the truth is I have been working on my revision. But by "working on my revision" I actually mean "refining my revision process." That is to say that revision is hard!
You know what, Reader(s)? I don't like the way this post is going. I feel rusty. The voice is wrong.
There you go--those last four sentences (which were not written with this intention, I swear on Agnes's life) are the best illustration of my revision process. Stopping, questioning, doubting, blaming.
Anyway, Our Dear Reader had a long talk with me again the other night and I feel re-focused. Stuff that I already knew, stuff that ODR had told me many times before, but this time, Reader(s), I feel like I got it.
ODR's most important bit of advice:
Break it down into goals.
Keep it at the task level.
Limit what you're doing.
Be brave.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Madeleine Reminds Herself in Public...
that the point of the second draft, or the goal for the second draft (not the point), is to make it more complete than the first draft. That is to say that the goal is not perfection. The book will NEVER be perfect. No book is perfect. This blog posting isn't even perfect.
Anyway, yes, Madeleine is having a difficult time revising. Madeleine also is shocked that this is her first posting of 2012. It has been so long since Madeleine posted on the Mildred that she can't remember if she posts in the third or the first person. The third person is feeling weird to Madeleine.
Anyway, yes, Madeleine is having a difficult time revising. Madeleine also is shocked that this is her first posting of 2012. It has been so long since Madeleine posted on the Mildred that she can't remember if she posts in the third or the first person. The third person is feeling weird to Madeleine.
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