I'm hoping that this post doesn't come over as a whingeing entry.
You see, I'm struggling with the latest rounds of edits. The first few rounds were quite straight forward. The repeated words, the glaringly obvious telling rather than showing. You know the drill. The next phase was made simple by my fantastic Crit Partners who pointed out things I'd missed, or suggesting neater and cleverer ways of putting something across.
It's now, with what I'm hoping are the final rounds, that I'm having problems. I'm trying to concentrate on one specific area at a time and weed out the last few remaining bits, that when fixed, should make my MS shine brighter than a shiny thing that really shines. You know the thing, making sure that the showing is done in the best way, that the perspective is close to the protagonist when it needs to be close, and steps back a bit when required, etc...
I know what to do. It's just that when I start reading, it starts off good, I notice a bit here, make a change there, and then...I've read five or six pages and haven;t even noticed that I'm turning the pages.
I'm immersed in the story.
I keep trying to kid myself that I'm turning the pages because it's good, and carrying me along, but there's another voice just under the surface who keeps reminding me that I know the story so well that I'm reading what I want to read and not seeing any problems.
So... the big question of the day is...
How do you guys get past this? Or, do you even have this problem?
This can be a problem. The only way I can distance myself is if I edit in small batches. 5 pages here and 5 pages there. You start and stop a lot, but it keeps your mind and your eyes fresh.
ReplyDeleteI may have to try that one. Thanks Emily
DeleteTime away from the manuscript can get you past this. If you can take the time, spend a week or two away from that manuscript. Work on something else. When you come back to it, you'll be able to look at it with more critical eyes.
ReplyDeleteThanks Connie. I think I'm getting impatient now that I can see the final straight.
DeleteYES! I come across that problem all the time. I take a small break and find me a great novel that I love that is really well written. It always inspires me to write better and all I want to do is get back to work! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Leigh. I'll give that a try :o)
DeleteI think it's a pretty good sign when you get immersed in your own novel-- especially BECAUSE you know it so well already! But I do think it helps to work on something different for a bit, because when you come back, you can look at it completely different than you were before.
ReplyDeleteThat's the plan Peggy.
DeleteThe problem is that I'm getting very impatient now that I'm getting to the end. It's so tempting to plough on and give it another going over :o)