Remember?
Silly me thought I'd be done my revisions by February, at the latest.
I must've forgotten that I'm a perfectionist. I must've forgotten that life (ahem, retinal surgery, engagement, househunting) gets in the way sometimes.
Here I am, mid-April, finally heading toward the finish line. But I see it, a shiny ribbon that I'm so close to breaking through.
I'm quite tired of saying the phrase "All I have left."
All I have left is cutting 20,000 words. (That took two rounds.)
All I have left is checking my character and plot arcs.
All I have left is perfecting my hook.
All I have left is reading it aloud for line edits. (Four chapters to go!)
All I have left is revising my synopsis.
All I have left is polishing my query letter.
All I have left is finalizing my agent list.
"All I have left" took me five months.
And it's not like my first draft was rough. Nope, after two years, that sucker was pretty darn clean and beautiful, since I revise as I go, and I've rewritten each chapter two to seven times to get it right.
I think I'll be done this month. For real, this time. And it's a little scary. Obsessively perfectionist Donna kinda sorta WANTS to add more to the "All I have left" list, because technically there's ALWAYS more you can do.
But somewhere inside, I KNOW I'm ready. I've gone through this book and analyzed it from every possible angle, looked at the big picture and squinted at it with a microscope, read it as a reader and as a writer -- plus I've gotten feedback from the FNC ladies every step of the way, and heard from a few beta readers. And I've even reread a bunch of writing blog posts I've bookmarked to refresh their excellent advice.
It's time to let go.
Thankfully, I make settlement on April 30th, so there will be plenty of things to distract me from my separation anxiety.
Plus, I have a shiny new idea. We have a date on May 1st. It's completely different from my current WIP, and I'm thrilled to start the rollercoaster ride all over again.
Which just goes to show -- every novel is a first novel.
Help! How do you know you're finished?
I feel like you and I are on the same writing schedule with our first novels! It's actually freaking me out a bit. I was finishing up in December and have been editing for months with my final deadline being April 19th. Last night I finished my line edits. But I want to add more to my 'all that's left' pile too. I still feel that more can be done despite all the workshopping, all the re-writing, all the added scenes, all the deleted ones...I've even done a microsfot word spell check (which btw is an absolute nightmare to go through over 300 pages) Despite wanting to do more, I feel it's DONE. It's all very conflicting and confusing! I don't feel it's ever done, but there has to be a point where you set it free...right? I feel in my bones that my time is soon. Good luck as you cross the 'finish' line, if we ever decide it's 'finished'.
ReplyDeleteI never know when I'm done. I'll revise until someone pries the ms from my cold, dead hands.
ReplyDeleteWow. You're brave for reading your whole novel out loud. I wrote a novel, but I haven't worked on it in a while because of other commitments. Now, even though I really believe in it, I feel like I have far more to do! I sometimes have new ideas about different methodologies for writing you might be interested in. Check my blog www.theinvisibletruth.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI'm going through a similar experience. I actually have been revising my book for about six years. I cut about 6000 words in November and thought I was done, then this month decided I needed to cut 3000 more. I'm about 100 pages from the end and already met my goal. I always ask myself if I'm really done.
ReplyDeleteI feel like we're never finished...seriously. I'm going to have MAJOR anxiety when we know that we won't be able to make any more changes to our book.
ReplyDeleteI can relate so well! I still have quite a few, "I only have lefts." Soon...
ReplyDeleteSo glad I'm not the only one on this ride! Not that I wish this neverendingness on others, but rather I just like to know I'm not so weird after all.
ReplyDeleteMelissa - That's so crazy! Good luck to you, too.
ReplyDeleteCandyland - Hahaha sometimes I feel that way too.
Trevor - It's actually fun to read it aloud -- though I don't dare do it when other people are in the room!
Natalie - Isn't it amazing how you always think you can't cut anymore, but after a break you go back to it and just chop chop chop all over again? Good luck with your revising!
LiLa - It's oddly comforting that someone published is going through this too. But sad because that nagging fear never goes away!
Alissa - Yes, I'm feeling that ellipsis.
Angela - "Neverendingness" is the PERFECT term for this!
Oh, you're so close now!! Good luck as you prepare the final finish. I was the same way at first. I thought my edits wouldn't take long at all. Ended up taking about 6 months. who knew? Ah well, you know when you know, I guess. And even then, you still second-guess yourself. I guess that's when your critique partners have to wrestle it away from you and force you to send it out ;)
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