Wow–that last post was gorgeous. The photos, the recipe, the concept of cheesecake made with cashews, your thoughts on manuscript revision….it all made me drool. Well, maybe not the last one. But it did get my thoughts swirling about how we go about editing and reshaping our works-in-progress (WIPs) with everything else going on in our lives.
I’m in the same boat (mine’s a dingy with only one oar, so I keep going around in circles–what’s yours?). My manuscript is due in about five weeks and several Important Things have been coming between me and it lately. And they have been important. Well…haven’t they? Okay, maybe there’s been some procrastination. And some how-on-earth-can-I-make-this-novel-as-good-as-I-want-it-to-be stressing.
But. BUT. I always feel better with something good to eat beside my pile of manuscript papers. Don’t you?
Since it’s a new year and I’m still regretting all the sweet, unhealthy things I ate over the holidays, I want something wholesome, grainy, comforting and sustaining. Granola bars. Yes, that’s it.
These are really simple, really easy and fast. They can be altered and doctored and multiplied. And when I sat down to my WIP with a cup of tea and one of these, it felt possible to write a really, really good book. You know–the kind other people would actually want to read. ‘Cause the thing is, I really love editing (most of the time). I love the possibilities becoming reality as I work. I love ticking off the items on my editing to-do list. I love the satisfaction of characters getting rounder, plotlines becoming stronger and things getting funnier or stormier or more layered. I like editing more than writing the first few drafts. But getting started editing, sometimes, is a tough go.
Granola bars help. They coax my hungry, reluctant inner editor out just long enough to see that it’s not so bad, this manuscript. It has redeeming qualities, and also crumbs between the words.
XO
Ria
PS-my Best Times to Edit:
One hour before bed.
When home from work early but before picking up Little e.
When Little e naps (a likely story these days).
When I should be marking student essays.
You?
Arggggggggg, those bars look GOOD!! I agree – editing needs food accompaniment. And it’s got to be tasty and luxurious. No leftover takeaways or quick sandwich!
My best times to edit are morning or afternoon tea times in a library cafe, right before bed (ditto!) or at night when Matt is watching telly and I have earphones jammed in, flooding my ears with tunes, to drown out the sound of his programme! Oh for a bigger house…
How funny we are at exactly the same stage of book gestation. I want to be editing but I still need to figure out how exactly and then dive in. Or, the truth of it, just bloody well dive in already and stop trying to solve it all before I even start!
Good luck from me to you and a bit of luck back at myself too… Oh, and send me some bars via post. Stat.