Saturday 7 May 2011

Revision burn-out #2

I wrote about revision burn-out back here, and now I'm back to write about it again, because I'm suffering from a mild case of it. As I mentioned to the folks at the awesome Write-Brained forums (in the even more awesome EdYoFOffMo group (Edit Your Face Off, if you wondered! :D), I have been working on my SUNDOWN revisions and was doing really well up until about chapter 15 (there are currently 33 chapters). Then I sort of entered a slump, wherein I was reading the words and shuffling them around but not really making any major revision progress.

I think I got to some parts where I'm not sure if I need them or not. I think I have this habit of keeping lines of dialogue from much earlier drafts just because I love them. I'm not sure my characters really need to say these lines. I'm not even sure what point I'm trying to get across with the scenes. My characters are getting to know each other, and that's important. But do I really need all those beloved lines?

Karen Hooper suggested that I take a step back for a while, give these revisions a rest and come back to it with fresh eyes. But typical of me, I want to keep going at least until I've done this latest re-read. Then I will print out a copy for my paper edit. But Karen's advice was very sound, and I will take it. At some point. As I said in response, it's not like I don't have enough other projects to spend time on while I'm on break from this one. ;)

And because I feel like it (this may become a habit), here's another of my drawings:


P.S. Have I mentioned how I've had to restrain myself from posting every day since May began? Haha. It's not the A-Z's fault either. I was like this before April!

13 comments:

  1. I agree you need time away. I go blind to errors and issues when I get so far into my fictional world. Sometimes I think it's because I'm never sure what I only have in my head, and what's actually on the paper.

    Great drawing. Color has always been a mystery to me.

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  2. Hey the drawing is really cool!!! A small break helps you for sure, in the sense, once you comeback you can look at everything with new eye!!!


    with warm regards
    CatchyTips for Writers

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  3. I love the picture! Very pretty :)

    I find it hard to step away sometimes too, but I find when I take the advice it actually works. I'll never be truly objective about my work, but giving myself some time away from it helps.

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  4. Hmmmkay... I just finished revisions of chapter 21, and decided I AM going to take a break. ;) I obviously need it. lol.

    So, the only question now is what to work on next?!?!

    Thanks for stopping by guys! :D

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  5. I'm totally with you when it comes to revision burn-out. I just want my current novel DONE! Love the background of your blog BTW.

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  6. That's a great drawing! I wish I could draw :)

    Hang in there--I'm dying to dig into revisions too and am trying desperately to let the manuscript sit for a little while at least.

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  7. I've had trouble forcing myself not to post or automatically go to my blog each day since the A to Z. Too funny!

    I'm currently suffering revision burn-out, as well, so setting it aside for a little bit again.

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  8. Revising your face off. I love it. I'm there. Actually I'm in kind of a revising swamp that just circles me around in the muck. Hope your revision gets better, and I love your drawing.

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  9. This sounds WRONG of me to say, but ...I'm glad I'm not alone in this revision burn-out thing. lol. Hopefully we'll all benefit from our little breaks and come back stronger than ever!

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  10. Love this drawing as well! I know how you feel about revisions... I keep chucking old words, adding new ones, going back to older drafts and pulling the former words back in... It's endless! I think that advice to step away is spot on. Maybe just a few more chapters and I'll do it...

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  11. Thanks Deniz :) Yeah, I'm taking a break from SUNDOWN and working on another of my novels - preliminary read through/edit, as is listed on my Goals list. hehe

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  12. I'll have to agree with Karen (and others above) and I'm glad to see you're taking the advice. If you're not able to have the proper distance anymore, you need to step back. You have plenty of other goals to work on. Sundown won't get too lonely.

    Good luck! I've been there, too. We get over it and get the stuff done we need to. That's why we're writers!

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  13. I seem to get deep down stuck in the very middle of my novel when writing it, and then again when revising it. Someone help! ;)

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Thanks for your words, me hearties! and don't forget to leave a link to your blog somewhere I can find it!