February 21, 2014 Slogging along!

Today was another morning when I was jolted awake in the wee hours before dawn by another headache which NORMALLY alerts me to a weather change, but this time, it was a false alarm!  Meanwhile, my Friday gym visit had to be moved to Saturday as I couldn't see me trying to do the balancing stuff on the half ball with my head in a spin.   

No worries, as it happened.  I spent the better part of the day editing, and boy, was I on target when I said it was going to be a slow process!  I'm 57 pages and 12 chapters into the thing, after many hours of work this week.  I've added another 3,000 words so far, but knew that would be part of the process.  The initial draft was, in some places, little more than an outline and needed some serious fleshing out!  I currently have another 202 pages to go through, so if the number cruncher in me wants to quantify, I'm about 1/5 of the way through the rewrite. 

Granted, this week was unusual as I put the whole week aside (barring gym visits, vet visits and other interruptions and procrastinations) just for editing.  But if I could get this much done every week, I'd have the first pass of editing done by the end of March. 

Sadly, I have other things which need to be done in that same space of time, like client work, homework, meetings with my teacher and classmate, so I will be seven shades of thrilled if I can finish by then! 

I also need to come up with a real title, figure out how to get some cover art, answer some really tough questions from my marketing guru, and talk to a man (or woman) about a website. 

Easy peasy, right?  I have to tell ya, this writing stuff is starting to feel a lot like work!  The only time I just ride the wave of creativity is when I'm writing or editing.  All of the other stuff, though very necessary if I want more than 5 people to read my book, feels like that three letter word I left behind me  (whispering so the fates can't hear me...you know...the J O B!) 

However, I have brought in an expert to keep me going in the right direction, and without an equal amount of marketing effort, the accounting has slowed down for the moment (though I may have to put some effort into marketing that, too, if my suspicions that something is about to break loose...well, never mind.  I'm not even going to go there right now.  The Universe is expecting me to allow it to do its job, so who am I to fret, worry or question the hows?   The book is my focus, and I have been given some time to keep that focus.  Because I don't know how much time I'm being given before my world, once again, is blown to kingdom come, I had best use my time wisely. 

And using it wisely means that I must edit at least 50 or 60 pages a week!  Now that I don't punch a clock, my weeks have a full seven days.  Sure, I don't necessarily work on my book for 8 hours a day, but there have been, and will be again, days when I work for a lot longer than 8 hours.  I got on a pretty good roll today, and worked two shifts of about 3 hours each.  Doing that every day would see amazing progress, don't you think? 

Through it all, I also need to make time to participate in some read and critiques, but I really wanted to bring edited pages, not draft pages.  Now, I can do that.  Like anything else, it's all a matter of steps.  One thing has to be finished before some other things can start.  Meanwhile, we can perform some steps concurrently.  (like editing and getting the marketing stuff rolling, for instance)

I've also learned (and each day is a learning experience now!), that I really do need to keep at least one of my blogs up too.  It won't be long before this, or one like it, will become the forum for my book, so I need to start building readership.  Yet another lesson to be learned!  Who says you can't teach an old dog???

Needless to say, rather than running out of words because I'm using so many, I seem to be running off at the...um..fingers with a plethora of words, in the many avenues I am currently traveling.

I am, therefore, doing my best to keep things from running into next Tuesday by making a concerted effort to turn off the flow of words before it truly does become a tower of babble!!!

My gratitudes tonight are:
1. I am grateful that the editing process is proceeding, albeit slowly, to the point where I can seek some constructive criticism, while putting my ego and motherly instincts into the closet during the process.
2. I am grateful for the help that is there for the seeking as I move into uncharted territory.
3. I am grateful for long, peaceful, uninterrupted days (with a little help from the "Do Not Disturb" sign on my front door.
4. I am grateful for increased energy, improving health and fitness levels and a brain that keeps on ticking.
5. I am grateful for my furry assistants who participate in everything from waking me up somewhat early in the morning, to hanging nearby while I edit, to helping me meditate.  I couldn't do it without them!

Love and light