WIP Update
Posted by annastan on June 9th, 2010. Filed under: WIP.A while back I set a goal for myself to finish the revision of my fairy tale retelling by June 15th. Last week, however, things weren’t looking that great. Whenever I thought about all the things I needed to change, my head started to ache. But after I went through and outlined the manuscript, I had a much clearer sense of what needed to be done.
In the past few days I’ve rearranged some scenes, reworked some others, and marked a few that still need some tweaking. Besides having to write a new chapter (one that’s proving rather tricky) most of the work left to be done is pretty minor. Lots of small adjustments still add up to a lot of work, of course, but the overall task of revision no longer feels so overwhelming. Phew!
How are you all doing with your WIP goals? Any recent strides or setbacks?
June 9th, 2010 at 8:37 am
So funny, it wasn’t until just now that I realized I don’t have any goals for my WiP. Hm…what is wrong with me?! I’ll set some this week.
June 9th, 2010 at 9:49 am
That’s great, Anna! It’s nice to see the end of the tunnel. I finished my current wip, need to rewrite ch 1 and fix a couple things and then let it sit before I tackle revisions. The hard part.
June 9th, 2010 at 10:09 am
I’m glad your necessary revisions are turning out to be minor. I’m still waiting for critiques to trickle in from my first readers so I can attack whatever revisions are needed before querying. I’ve got my query letter(s) ready to go, but to keep from going bonkers while I wait, I’m working on a sequel. I’ll take my first three chapters of the new WIP to my critique group later this month.
June 9th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Congrats on heading towards your goal. I find, if I don’t set myself timelines I tend to waste time on the internet like…erm, now.
June 9th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
Jon, you’re still in the shiny new stage of your WIP so it’s okay not to have concrete goals quite yet. But of course, they couldn’t hurt.
Laura, how exciting that you’re almost done with your draft! Make sure to reward yourself with a tiny bit of fun before you dive into revisions.
Vonna, I know what you mean about the waiting making you bonkers! But it sounds like you’re doing a good job of distracting yourself. Good luck getting the manuscript ready for querying!
Thanks, Cate! Yes, the internet is like a black hole that sucks up huge amounts of writing time. Must…resist…its…pull…
June 9th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
Hey Anna!
Glad that you are tackling your WIP — it can be overwhelming at times. I plan to wrap up my WIP around July 4th give or take. Then I plan to do my “final” (ha, right) revision to be done hopefully by October. We’ll see!
Good luck!
June 10th, 2010 at 10:11 am
Hi Karen! Sounds like you have a solid plan. And don’t worry, one of those “final” revisions will actually be final!
June 10th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
The last few days were kind of a wash, and I began to think I wouldn’t meet my June 30 (personal) deadline. But I had a good morning and made a pretty big leap. My confidence is restored.
June 10th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
I don’t really set deadlines, maybe I should. But I finally finished revising my story, I’ll be pitching it this weekend.
June 11th, 2010 at 12:43 am
I have made goals. I am not that excited about them, but they are goals at least.
June 11th, 2010 at 8:47 am
Yay, Marcia! You can do it!
Janet, I don’t know if deadlines are always necessary but they can be a good way of kicking yourself in the pants!
Oh Jon, I feel like I bullied you into making them. But hopefully they’ll help!
June 16th, 2010 at 8:39 am
Anna,
This is the summer I’m taking my own writing seriously. I set a goal of writin two hours and day, and so far am keeping it. The routine has been good for me. My initial panic at sitting down to write is transforming into excitement.
My second goal is to reach out to other writers and find a writing community to become a part of. The Internet is wonderful for that.