I'd almost made it too--but succumbed to my urges four days ahead of schedule. The first time I forced myself to do this it worked just fine. The larger project I'm currently editing/re-writing/hiding from, because the writing sometimes makes me embarrassed for myself, waited six weeks to be looked at again. But this tiny one just could not wait. It called to me, and I ignored the "serious face" I'd drawn on the post-it, deftly ripping it off so I did not have to see it glower at me for trespassing.
I'm an impatient person in general, but part of me felt guilty for breaking a rule concerning my own writing that I'm trying to establish.
Do you revise a work as soon as it's completed or do you ignore the urge to revise right away? And if you do, how long do you usually give yourself before you go back to it?
I revise as I go. I revise right away. I revise random sections. If I want to do it, I do it. I'm just crazy that way.
ReplyDeleteThere does come a point where I have to force myself to leave it alone - that's when I jump into something else. But there's NO WAY I could set a date and wait until that date, because it would be like dangling a treat in front of my nose that I'm not allowed to have. That NEVER words :)
On a funny note, I totally saw the beginning of your blog, and was like, wait, it's not 3/28, is it?? But then I read anyway, cause... I'm just like that. Well, and cause it seemed silly to NOT read something you so obviously posted to be read ;)
First -- I, too, write on purple post-its. I also use a bunch of different purple pens. *smile*
ReplyDeleteSecond -- "The larger project I'm currently editing/re-writing/hiding from, because the writing sometimes makes me embarrassed for myself, waited six weeks to be looked at again." Oh, I've SO been there. I've hid from writing before -- and been embarrassed by it. Just remember that no one but you sees those false starts. Someone recently told me that, and it helped.
As far as revisions/editing goes, I usually revise within a day or two (for short stories). Then I send it off to a few select friends for comments. After that, I put it away for a week, and then go back to it for a final polish. This is a totally new system, though. I used to be completely spastic about it, needing to finish revisions asap. But I've learned to work through it as a process, and I think that's been helpful.
For something longer, though (novel length) -- it's a whole different system.
Great post.
Jolene-I *wish* I could revise as I go, but whenever I attempt it I lose the flow of the story. So I pretty much just punch it out as soon as I can and then begin the revision process.
ReplyDeleteAs to the title of the post--I figured if I didn't listen to myself and read the story anyway, people might react the the same way to the post (I see it worked).
Ali-Purple is a great color! :-)
And I have been trying to a system that works for me (hence the purple post-it). I think it is helpful for me to create some distance from a finished work, mainly because I find that I can see the inconsistencies between the story in my mind and what is actually on paper much better that way.
Both-Thank you so much for reading and commenting! I certainly don't feel guilty about ignoring my "scheduled editing" anymore.