Monday, August 6, 2012

Revision and Polishing: 100 Days of Revision Update

100 Days of Revision is coming to a close . . .soon. (Friday) (I'll be keeping to myself from today until Friday evening so please feel free to ignore my blog until next week)

And am I going to be finished by the end of my self-imposed goal?

I think so . . .mostly so. Yes.

The reality is . . . I went a little deeper in revision than I originally intended, but I think it's for the benefit of my novel. I changed around some major details again. Yikes. But it's ok. In fact, it's better than ok. I think it's almost finished.

The reality is that at the close of the 100 days . . . I'll still need to rub a polishing cloth over the story.

The awesome news about that is that I found an amazing critique partner who's helping me find the rough stuff and the few "question" areas that remain. I plan to be fully polished (no more "revision" of major parts) by early September (hopefully end of August).

Is this an unfair extension of my 100 Days of Revision?

I don't think so. I gave myself 100 Days to take the gobbledy gook parts of my story and get the plot back into place after questioning myself too many times in previous revisions. This time the plan is good and it's coming together . . . finally.

So, my critique partner is worth her weight in gold, and I hope she knows it.

Do you have a critique partner? Where are you at in your writing? When do you feel finished?

On another positive note: I cleaned my writing nook, stumbled across my sequel to Champion in the Darkness and read it from start to finish with happiness. I think the sequel may be stronger in rough draft form than Champion was . . .and that's awesome, because once I finish Champion, I plan to polish One Wing and get it it out there quickly. BTW: planning on self-pubbing.

11 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Glad it's going so well! I have a couple critique partners and Rusty is just awesome. And I know I'm finished when I start changing things back to the way they were in the original draft.

mshatch said...

yes I have a few crit partners as well, and there's nothing wrong with extending revisions in order to make your novel shine brighter. After all, the brighter it shines the more likely it is to get noticed :)

Karen Lange said...

Wishing you the best with your progress. Cheering you on! :)

Angie said...

Yay, Tyrean! Good job.

Anonymous said...

Keep moving forward, Tyrean.

I didn't work on my writing all summer, then the muse suddenly hit and I tore into my revision like it was a fresh baked apple pie. :)

michelle said...

Wow! You sound well on track and very organised...
A great attitude!

Unknown said...

I think self-imposed deadlines should just be guidelines. No one wins a prize if they finish at a certain time. The prize comes when the ms is the best it can be, no matter how long it takes.
It's great you found a CP -- they're invaluable! :-)

Carol Riggs said...

Woo, changing major stuff still, eh? Well, if it needs it--cool! Good for you, for making the hard decision to do it, even at this late point. I'm so glad you have a CP who's helping you shape up the ms, too! That's great. Yep, I have one of those too. The amazing Lynda Young, who doesn't let me get away with anything. LOL

M Pax said...

Woo hoo for completing another round. I can tell you that the revisions/polishing go faster and are usually less work as you keep writing. Thank goodness. That's worth looking forward to, yes? I just finished polishing/revising mine, too.

Annalisa Crawford said...

I don't think you truly know the extent of the edits until you start reading. I've also changed major parts before, a lot of the time because I've read it and though 'eh?' which isn't a good sign. I hope you're happier with your new version!

nutschell said...

Hurray! Congrats in advance for achieving your goal. My critique group is on hiatus right now. Some of us are enjoying the summer break, while others Like myself, are also doing a round of revisions :)
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com