This ain't no sprint
Today, as I continue working on the second draft of The Catalin, I finally finished converting the entire 120,000 plus words of the story from present tense to past tense.
That meant reading every sentence, paragraph and chapter, word for word.
To say I’m a little exhausted and relieved would be an understatement, but at the same time, I’m thrilled to have again read the two words on the bottom of the last page. THE END.
Reading though the manuscript and editing the present tense language to past tense, took a lot of concentration. But more than that, it highlighted to me things I still need to cut, shape and polish before it will be even close to a manuscript a traditional publisher might want to consider.
That’s daunting.
What was even more daunting was when I listened to a podcast of a very successful writer of Australian historical fiction stories. She said her latest book (she had over ten successfully published books that had sold globally), had taken her one year of writing, then another two years of cutting, shaping and polishing before submitting it.
So, I’ve got a lot still to do and I've got to keep reminding myself that this isn't a sprint, it's a long distance run. There is a finish line, but at the moment, I can't see it, but need to keep running toward it.
I was reflecting over the last two weeks when I realised that I missed a week in my behind-the-scenes journal posting. Seriously, when I'm in my writing studio, immersed in 1956, time flies, but somehow stands still.
But, what I’ve learned and continue to learn, is my need to find the balance between ignoring the little voices that are challenging me on what I’ve written, while at the same time, listening to them when my gut is telling me they are right and something in the story needs fixing.
Now that I’ve got the present to past tense conversion done and dusted, it’s time to get back to my Australian Writers’ Centre course on how to edit my 2nd draft.
The Catalina will be a cracker of a story, and I can’t wait for you to read it, when I reckon it’s ready.
I haven’t given myself a deadline or even a timeline of what needs to be done by when and I’m sure if you’re a goal setter and time manager, you’ll have heaps of advice for me on why I should have.
And I reckon, once I’ve got this first one published, for my next books, I will understand more about structure, character arcs, editing and so much more that I’ll be able to set some timelines and goals.
But for now, I’ll just keep posting about what I’m learning and trusting in the process.
Next week I will share a little more about two relationships in the story and how some of what goes on is unintentionally mirroring how Lizzie and I handle whatever life throws at us.
