Monday, June 28, 2010

Writers' remorse

I've been away from my laptop for the last few days, I've been reading and living life. Weird.

Last week I finished my first draft of Penny and Hank. You know that blissful feeling of accomplishment? That rush of a job completed? The ability to cross something off your to do list?

That buzz latest less then five minutes for me.

By the time I drove from the library, where I was writing, to my front door, the thrill had vanished.
Poof gone.

My next thought was "this is going to be a bitch to revise."

It will be. There was at least 5-10 spelling mistakes on every page, I left words out of sentences, typed the wrong word but spell check won't catch them. That's the little stuff, there's big issues too, like the overall tone of the book, character development, word choice. Blah blah blah.

I hung my head an thought, I don't know if I can handle this book for another three years.

Sigh.

So I vowed to not look at it for the rest of the summer.

I'm doing a reading binge, focusing on my daughter and getting ready for our trip to Boston!
When I get home I'll revise No System At All.

When I drove to pick my daughter up from daycare, I had to force myself to get happy and proud. I listened to Glee, because as much as I love Alt rock- I dig show tunes too, and tried to get myself pumped up.

So writers, does writers' remorse ever set in for you?

8 comments:

  1. I get writer's remorse, for sure. Too much, I think!
    Have fun with your reading binge. All the fun, and none of the fat.

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  2. Nothing like Glee to get you feeling... gleeful.

    There are plenty of times when I think, 'I can't work on this now.' Then I put it away and work on something else. As soon as I start that something else, my remorse vanishes- Poof. I can't stay away for too long. It's a viscious cycle.

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  3. You need the time off between finishing the first draft and your first set of revisions. It seriously makes a huge difference in the way you see the story. So don't feel bad about taking a break.

    Everything will look better once you've had time to recoup. :)

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  4. Yeeeeessssssss~
    You're awesome, the story sounds interesting - I'm sure it will be great - in time. :D

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  5. Everything will be fine. You inspired me to write about the remorse today over at mine - http://aliciagregoire.blogspot.com

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  6. Take your time and enjoy the process. Revise when your brain and your heart tell you you're ready. Sometimes the whole thing needs to run around in your self-consciousness for a bit. It'll be fun when you're ready!

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  7. I think every writer gets hit by this. But it's good to take a break from your manuscript anyways because you'll have a clearer head when you return :)
    Happy reading!

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