Back in October, I told you I was taking a break from blogging. I hoped to schedule a series of posts to share with you, and I did set up a few weeks’ worth of those, putting old posts into new spots in the calendar.
The unintended consequence of this was two-fold. I had hoped to step away from the blog for a bit without losing my connection with you, my readers. As it turns out, notifications of publication to followers are not repeated with a repeated post. No one would know I put up a new post.
I should, I guess, have copied those posts and put them up as new ones. Then you’d know they were there. I needed to step away from the manual notifications which I prefer (pushing identical content across all my social media pages isn’t how I like to do things- I tailor my notices to my audience). That didn’t work either.
The other consequence is that I lost the flow of series posts by taking favorites out of context to re-post them. They are no longer located in their “families” of thoughts and experience. Now that I know these things, I’m back. Not as often as I might hope, but I’ve missed the connection and conversation.
Do you remember why I stepped away in the first place? I spent November’s NaNoWriMo working on edits as I was able. I plugged away, working about five pages a day, fully believing that I’d reach the end of the manuscript with that month’s push. I realized about 150 pages in that I did not have the whole manuscript compiled for edits, and that I was not even half way through the book at that point.
It took quite a lot of chocolate (and channeling my inner Kate by wearing what I believe to be her wedding ring, above) to move forward, but I tried my best to keep the pace after doing a re-compile and seeing the monumental reality of the whole work before me – 167 pages in, with more than 394 printed pages in all.
During November, and starting on what was then page 112, I looked at more than sixty-five pages of manuscript. I revised those sections down to a total of 22,000 words or thereabouts, including removing 43 duplicated pages of content (whew!!).
By the end of November, though I’d made progress at dumping the junk, it all still felt very daunting and impossible. Five pages a day was just too much to maintain with my current status as full-time caregiver. Yet I this what I need to do, edit and finish this book.
Then came the lovely Linda Urban and her #writedaily30 invitation, which happens a couple of times a year, always when I most need it. It’s simply a re-set, a re-commitment to the work. Writers enter their daily goal into a shared spreadsheet and support each other as they chart their progress through 30 days of committed writing. My goal for December? Two pages a day. Two pages of edits on paper, OR two pages of those edits entered into the manuscript. By the end of December? Fifty pages of edits on paper, and over thirty of those entered into the manuscript. The paper pages I’ve completed now total more than the current page count in the manuscript. This means many things. Mostly it means I’ve found my working pace.
Next up? A wonderful kidlit community challenge called #Nerdlution. Fifty days doing something to change or enhance a habit or practice. Not a resolution for the whole year, but small, manageable goals to reach for, committed to for 50 days straight. In fifty days, keeping to my goal of two pages per day? I’ll be within sight of the end. Really, I will.
You can follow the #nerdlution hashtag on Twitter to see how folks are doing with our challenges. I’d love it if you poked around in the archives of the blog and ask me to re-post an article or two (I’ll re-chare them right this time), or ask me my thoughts on the books I’m reading lately.
I’ll let you know when I get to the end of my edits, and we’ll do a happy dance together.
The Best of It 