WIP Wednesday

Mood: Mad and sad - I'm SMAD (got some not so great news about someone I care about this afternoon)

I've been working the edits on Legacy and, while working the edits I've discovered that there are major parts that just don't work, chapters that are in the wrong places and entire plot sections that need to be disposed of.

While working on cutting, ripping and tearing bits and pieces apart I've also discovered that the creative part of my brain isn't willing to rest quietly while my internal editor wrestles over word choices and timelines. Oh no. She wants her voice heard as well.

Creative Brain: Wouldn't it be awesome if we added 'completely awesome but complicated storyline idea'?

Me: Uh yeah, that would be awesome but to do that I'd have to re-write the entire book almost from the beginning.

CB: So?

Me: So? So that's a heck of a lot of work and I'm not sure I can do that kind of rewrite on this story.

CB: So you just want your story to suck then?

Me: No

CB: You must, you want to suck. Suckity, suckity, suck.

Me: Look, you don't have to do the work - it's not easy doing that kind of change

CB: LALALALALALALALA I can't heeeaaarrrr you! Suckity, suckity, suck!

So, yeah - that's what's going on in  my writing world - what about yours?

WIP Wednesday

Mood: Cranky (really, really cranky) 

I'm currently knee deep in the editing process (yes, still so shut up already) but I am making at least some progress as evidenced by the following snapshot I took of my computer screen not more than 5 minutes ago

That rainbow of colors? Deleted text, added text, moved text and helpful notes like "really? can she STOP looking around the damn room already?*" BUT. If you look closely** you will see that there are a few words here and there that escaped completely unscathed. Those are the words*** around which I am building my second draft.

With any luck the suckage factor of my second draft will be infinitely less than that of the first but if it's one thing I've learned through the writing process it's to never underestimate my ability to suck.****
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*seriously, I think I may have accidentally given my main character whiplash from all the looking around the room she did.

**verra verra closely

***mostly gems like "the", "and" & "I"

****that and no matter how well the writing is going if you don't take that pee break things are going to get VERY uncomfortable. A little friendly writerly advice there - just saying..

It's All About Pennies and Inches

Mood: Tired but accomplished 
On TV: King of the Hill (I tell you what)

It's mid-January, it's freezing (like REALLY freezing) outside and there is absolutely nothing to do except sit inside our tiny cramped apartment and get more annoyed at the fact that it seems to be getting tinier and more cramped by the minute - this is a time honored winter tradition in our household.

So it was probably inevitable that when the hubs asked me what I wanted to do with our Saturday I suggested rearranging and de-cluttering our apartment (in an effort to keep the walls from completely closing in and smashing us in our sleep) - but it was surprising that the hubs not only agreed but jumped up to get started.

We spent hours today - purging our closets - getting rid of old clothes, shoes and generally useless crap that the two of us somehow manage to collect over the course of a year. We added storage and organization solutions to our closets and rearranged things until we'd gained a few inches of storage space in each closet.

A few inches may not sound like much but when you're living in such a small space a few extra inches can make all the difference in the world. It means that things that were tucked in corners can now be properly stored on shelves in the closet - it means that furniture can be shifted ever so slightly, eventually making room for:

MY NEW DESK!!!!!!

Turning the end table and moving a few things into the newly created spaces in our closet gave us room for a tiny desk all for me! I'm so excited to finally be able to move from my previous work space (otherwise known as the corner of the futon) and into a proper (although small) desk area. 

One of the things we moved to make room for my new work area was our jar of change. We hauled the jar to our local supermarket and dumped the contents into the Coinstar machine - watching in awe as our pennies (literally - it was more than 50% pennies) started to add up. At the end of the count we had nearly $22.00 - all from pennies and a few nickels. Who knew that we had $22 dollars just sitting in a jar in the corner? 

So, a few extra inches and I gained my own workspace. A few extra pennies nearly paid for the desk (what can I say - we're all about the craptastic cheapness that is Wal-Mart do it yourself furniture). 

All of this started me thinking about my edits - which are currently so massive that half the time I don't even know where to start. It's a huge job and, no matter how much I do, it doesn't seem like I'm really getting anywhere but really? Isn't it all about the pennies and inches? One word, one sentence at a time and eventually I'll get there. And this time I'll do it at my super cool new desk! 

Deep in the Forest of Edits and Paper

Mood: Tired (dreading the Monday dragon - it's peeking around the corner)
On TV: Bama Belles (Help me - I have a reality TV addiction!) 

The halls at Casa de Cowsert are completely decked, the tree shelters a nice pile of gifts awaiting a visit from the gift wrapping fairy and I'm hip deep in the editing process.

Once upon a time I thought of the editing process as something akin to slapping a fresh coat of paint on an already gorgeous wall. You know, something that looks good already but just needs a little pizazz to send it right over the edge? This? Was because I used to over think and over edit as I wrote - which basically meant that I would rarely ever finish a draft of anything because I was too focused on achieving perfection the first time around.

So up until now, my edits have resembled a project something like this:

Thankfully I learned to let go of that obsessive need to be perfect during the writing process. I was all "Yay! first drafts are supposed to suck and I suck so yay me!!!"

Now, however, I'm faced with the aftermath of a sucky first draft. Instead of just slapping a fresh coat of paint on a perfectly smooth and primed wall I'm left with something that looks more like this:

It has great bones, a solid structure and with a LOT of TLC it could be really amazing but I'm going to need a sledge hammer, not a paint brush to get me there.