I’ve been working really really hard to finish editing the fifth draft of The Eugenicist’s Assistant by the end of November. Partly this is in honor of NaNoWriMo, when people all over the world sprint to finish a novel in November. I’m not drafting something new so I don’t technically qualify for the event this year, but I like taking advantage of that energy. My self-imposed deadline is also so I can get the novel off my plate before everything ramps up at home and school in December.
I just finished editing chapter 25 out of 31, and I’m so excited: the end is in sight. The last six chapters are a mix of minor edits and partial re-writes, and I’m sure it’s going to take me right up until my self-imposed deadline of the day before Thanksgiving. Then I’ll let it rest a few days before taking a final pass-through and sending it to my agent the first week of December.
I ended up with an unexpected amount of extra time today, and typically I’d use it to keep working on the novel, but after several straight days of editing I’m a little bit weary of it. Today’s blog post is courtesy of that feeling. I wanted to write, but I just needed a break from the book, and since I’m ahead of schedule, I allowed myself to indulge.
After nearly ten years of being a dedicated, capital-W Writer, I’ve learned a few things about my own process. At the top of the list is that I need to have simultaneous projects to feed my writing hunger, and those projects need to balance each other in two ways.
ONE: There always needs to be piece that I’m writing/creating for the first time AND a piece that I’m editing/polishing. That allows me to toggle back and forth between them. Generally, I work on the newer draft early in the day, when my energy is high, because the initial creation is harder for me.
TWO: I like to write either very long (novels, books) or very short (blog posts, newsletters, flash nonfiction under 800 words). Occasionally I’ll come up with a short memoir piece of about 2,000 words or a short story of about 4,000, but my favorite ways to write are either tight and focused, or deep and layered. It’s best if I’m working on one of each.
This month I’m overbalanced on the long piece and the editing side (though there is some re-writing involved) so I’ve been taking breaks with newsletters and blog posts. Once The Eugenicist’s Assistant is in my agent’s hands, I’m looking forward to experimenting with some personal essay (I’m excited to try a braided essay and a hermit crab essay, two forms I learned about at Hippocamp) and editing some of the short memoir pieces I wrote over the summer.
With writing, I’m insatiable; I always want more!
What are all of you working on these days? Do you have odd quirks like mine when it comes to your creative process?
It’s great that you’ve learned this about yourself. I like to have a mix of writing projects/stages as well–that way I can always keep moving forward. Right now I’m working short: social media posts for a corporate client, and blog posts for another client. I’ve been toying with the idea of a book for literally years (non-fiction), but I’m just not sure I have the desire or follow through for that project. And that is the first time I’ve admitted that out loud! I would like to work on a longer, braided essay–I like reading them, and maybe would enjoy writing them, too.
I admit that I’m a bit burned out on writing–over the past few months I’ve had more work than usual, and I woke up one day happy that I didn’t have to write anything that day (gulp!). I need some creative well re-filling. I’ve put my own blog on hold for a bit to see if I can’t get my mojo back.