Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Wednesday's Writing Update: Breakdowns and Decisions


It’s Wednesday again, and I’m slowly coming out from my editing induced coma.

I started keeping track of how many pages I edit each day from June 1. So far my total is 620 pages. I am almost finished with a proofreading assignment. Then I have a short story collection to proofread, and I’d like to get back to editing my own work too. Let’s just say I had a minor breakdown on Sunday from it all and realized changes needed to be made.

Although I edited that many pages, my writing has been a little over 1000 words total at the time. No, this number is not including emails, blogs, Twitter/Facebook things, etc. I’ve written a short story and a flash fiction piece so far this month and that’s it. Ideas have been throwing themselves at me during this time, and it kills me to have to tell them to pipe down until I finish editing.

Well, I’ve come to a decision. Writing is very important to me. Plus, it is healthy, mentally, for me. I’m limiting my editing to two hours a day and using the other time to write and read. I find knowing I only have two hours to do the editing is actually helping me. I’m getting a lot more done than when I think I’ll have to edit all day. We’ll see how it goes, since I just started this on Monday.

As for other news, I submitted “Sweet Vengeance” to the Valley Writers’ portion of the Virginia Writers Club Golden Nib contest. If I place first in the local level, then my story will go to state. I placed third last year in the local level with “Soul Drinker.”

I entered Once Upon a December Nightmare into EPIC’seBook Competition in the novella category. Also, my ebook is now available on the Nook here.

I also joined the James River Writers yesterday. I mainly did it for priority placing in the workshops and agents at the James River Writers Conference, but I like the people I met through them last year too. I can’t wait to go to the JRW Conference in October. It looks really good this year, and I loved it last year.

Anyone have any news? How do you keep from overdoing something? Anyone planning to attend the JRW Conference or another writers’ conference this year?

10 comments:

Aubrie said...

I think it's a great decision for you to set aside writing time everyday!

I put my review up on nook for you. :) Hope you sell more.

Karen Jones Gowen said...

I struggle with the writing my own stuff vs. editing other people's stuff all the time. It's a real dilemma to find the balance.

Julie Flanders said...

I think it's a great idea to limit your editing time, I hope this works for you. I can relate, I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed and distracted the past few weeks and haven't done the writing I wanted to do.

Good luck with your submissions! I will keep my fingers crossed for you. :)

Christine Rains said...

I'm happy you put aside time for your writing. You don't want to drown in editing assignments! Good luck with your stories. I have my fingers crossed for you.

Alleged Author said...

I'm glad you're going to get more time to read and write. That's way too much editing. Yuck!

Summer Ross said...

I really wanted to go to the Wyoming writers conference this year but as it happened my college classes kept me from going- sighs- maybe next year.

Good luck on thew contest you entered!

Nicole Zoltack said...

It's important to find balance between everything so kudos to you for taking a step back with your editing. Writing is so important to you, I can tell. :)

Sheila Deeth said...

I've been overdoing the yardwork but I'm not sure that counts. Still, I certainly feel more human now I'm writing again.

Terri Talley Venters said...

I'm honored that your writing included "Copper Blade." Thanks again for being my first guest blogger on Friday =)

Shannon Lawrence said...

I found that when I was focusing solely on editing I lost some of my verve for it all and the time I'd been setting aside for writing wasn't being used for editing as much, so I lost that routine I had going. I think restricting the editing time is a great idea. I think I'll have to do the same. For now, I put aside the work I was editing and started writing again. Amazing how quickly the energy picks up during the fun parts! Good luck with the contests you've entered.

Tina @ Life is Good
and I are joining forces in another challenge. We're going to visit and comment at each of the participants, starting with the reflections post. We hope you'll join us!

Shannon @ The Warrior Muse