I’ve finally crossed into under 10K words left of my novel draft! 🎉
This has been an eye-opening experience. I can’t say I hated rewriting my novel, though. I know the nucleus of this story so well that reshaping it wasn’t as difficult as it could’ve been. That said, I’m looking forward to taking a break from working on it. Once I’ve finished the new draft, I’m going to put it aside until at least December.
Of course, I have a new novel to start on November 1st. I’m fully prepared for NaNoWriMo to punch me in the face like it often does, especially because I have a week I must take off in order to attend an international wedding. So we’ll see if I finish that draft in November. Hence the whole “at least December” thing. If I’m working on a new novel, I’m not gonna fuss with editing the older one much during Christmastime.
When I first approached this stuff, I was looking at it as some kind of a rush. I was excited! I had so many ideas! And that was good fuel for getting the writing done, but I have since chilled out.
There’s no rush. I should take my time to put good novels in front of book agents. I should find good, reliable betas who know what they’re talking about. I should EDIT.
Last time, I was too easy on myself. I edited right after finishing and getting some feedback from friends. I didn’t see the big picture. I queried 20 or so agents before the story was ready.
Then I got some betas who gave me important feedback and I’ve regrouped. The story is in a better place because of it.
I can’t wait for people to get the chance to read my story, but waiting is just part of it. Rejection is part of it, though hopefully, the second try will go better.
And working on this next story can be amusement on the days when editing feels more like work. Editing is fun, for me (I’m weird), but it’s also more work than daydreaming up a novel is.
I’m proud of myself, regardless.
Sara Mazariegos 