First thing to cover is a bit of house cleaning: my Sunday blog post is going to be moved to Monday's as this fits much better with my current work schedule.
"Jupiter Symphony" is still suffering through edits and is roughly 80% complete. It's also facing the prospect of having the last fifth chopped off and made into a separate book, but I won't know for certain until this edit is complete.
This actually dovetails in nicely with today's blog posting, which has to do with two of the hats an author must wear (and there are many more, if you are wondering).
At minimum, no matter if he is an independent author, an ebook proponent, or a hanger on of the archaic, a writer has two primary jobs: writing and editing. The order of operations is simple enough. You write, and then you edit. Except when you don't. Because of the development "Jupiter Symphony" has gone through, the order has been writing, editing, writing, editing, writing, editing. All in all, the book has gained roughly 20,000 words since this major edit began, mostly in the form of two entirely new chapters, although this also encompasses rewrites of certain sections that were too skinny previously. If you are writing, put meat on the bones of your text. Give the reader something to sink their teeth into, or they will find someone else who does.
Now, due to this shifting of job functions, I've discovered how challenging it can be to rapidly make this shift. The creative and exploratory mindset I put myself in while writing is a stark contrast to the analytical viewpoint I take when reviewing and changing the manuscript. As it turns out, I struggle to do this quickly. Now, this may be one of those things that I get better at with time, but I already have to work hard to get into editing mode, so bouncing back to writing again could prove challenging. What this means is that I've seen progress slow on the book to levels I am not happy with, and some changes need to occur.
I'm interested to know how other writers face this challenge. Perhaps it's something that only I need help with, but I would hope that isn't the case. I have yet to go through life without finding someone else that shared a struggle I have. Because things have slowed already, I don't feel to bad putting my work on hold in order to take a step back and assess the root of the issue, with the goal of coming back swinging so that I can finally knock this thing out.
I'm sure I've brought it up before, but the large overhauls and additional material means that rather than another cursory read through, the book probably needs another in depth edit, but after that stage I should be looking at a solid end time, so I've you're among the literally several people awaiting my novel, you get to wait just a little bit longer! Hey, you can't rush art. You also can't rush whatever the thing is I'm editing. Writing. Editing. Whatever.
So, if you're someone who foolishly thought that you would write a book and now are struggling to edit it, let me know what you do to get by. The best way to reach me is my Twitter, @ReadACHarrison. If you don't like that, tweet me and I'll give you my email. Honestly, though, in the top right of this page you will see buttons via which you can communicate with me. Until next Monday.
A.C. Harrison
Support indie authors! Like me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
"Jupiter Symphony" is still suffering through edits and is roughly 80% complete. It's also facing the prospect of having the last fifth chopped off and made into a separate book, but I won't know for certain until this edit is complete.
This actually dovetails in nicely with today's blog posting, which has to do with two of the hats an author must wear (and there are many more, if you are wondering).
At minimum, no matter if he is an independent author, an ebook proponent, or a hanger on of the archaic, a writer has two primary jobs: writing and editing. The order of operations is simple enough. You write, and then you edit. Except when you don't. Because of the development "Jupiter Symphony" has gone through, the order has been writing, editing, writing, editing, writing, editing. All in all, the book has gained roughly 20,000 words since this major edit began, mostly in the form of two entirely new chapters, although this also encompasses rewrites of certain sections that were too skinny previously. If you are writing, put meat on the bones of your text. Give the reader something to sink their teeth into, or they will find someone else who does.
Now, due to this shifting of job functions, I've discovered how challenging it can be to rapidly make this shift. The creative and exploratory mindset I put myself in while writing is a stark contrast to the analytical viewpoint I take when reviewing and changing the manuscript. As it turns out, I struggle to do this quickly. Now, this may be one of those things that I get better at with time, but I already have to work hard to get into editing mode, so bouncing back to writing again could prove challenging. What this means is that I've seen progress slow on the book to levels I am not happy with, and some changes need to occur.
I'm interested to know how other writers face this challenge. Perhaps it's something that only I need help with, but I would hope that isn't the case. I have yet to go through life without finding someone else that shared a struggle I have. Because things have slowed already, I don't feel to bad putting my work on hold in order to take a step back and assess the root of the issue, with the goal of coming back swinging so that I can finally knock this thing out.
I'm sure I've brought it up before, but the large overhauls and additional material means that rather than another cursory read through, the book probably needs another in depth edit, but after that stage I should be looking at a solid end time, so I've you're among the literally several people awaiting my novel, you get to wait just a little bit longer! Hey, you can't rush art. You also can't rush whatever the thing is I'm editing. Writing. Editing. Whatever.
So, if you're someone who foolishly thought that you would write a book and now are struggling to edit it, let me know what you do to get by. The best way to reach me is my Twitter, @ReadACHarrison. If you don't like that, tweet me and I'll give you my email. Honestly, though, in the top right of this page you will see buttons via which you can communicate with me. Until next Monday.
A.C. Harrison
Support indie authors! Like me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
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