Editing Motivation

I finished my first draft of my first novel maybe three weeks ago. I expected to promptly begin editing and finish my second draft in lightning speed.

Yeah, not so much.

I pretty much did nothing with it for about a week, and I have sporadically edited since then. Granted, I'm on vacation seeing extended family I haven't seen in five years, but it's not that I'm just so incredibly busy that I can't get around to it.

It's that it's kind of boring. Writing the book, getting the story out and figuring out what should happen in which order and how I can connect event a with event q, that's incredibly fun. Editing is slowly rereading and deciding what changes ought to be made to make it flow better. And honestly, I'm not even at that point yet. I'm going through my list of changes or additions that I created while writing the first draft. After I'm done with those, I plan to ignore it for a week and then reread it and see what I think needs to change.

Writing the first draft is play. Editing is work.

Not terrible work, perfectly enjoyable work. But not the carefree joy of playing.

However, I have gotten a burst of motivation recently. I figured out an entire scene of the second book of this trilogy I'm writing. I jotted it down and put it in my book two folder I have, since I'm not going to do any writing of that anytime remotely soon, but I have found it very motivational. I'm wanting to start writing that second book.

And to do that, I have to finish the first. I have to do this cleaning up bit, then come back with a fresh mind and see what needs polishing. Then hand it off to the fabulous people who have agreed to give me constructive criticism. Then I'll need to take that constructive criticism bravely and look at their thoughts and decide if they're right or not and see what needs to be changed then.

Then I will start the scary business of trying to find an agent and get published. And perhaps then I can begin to entertain thoughts of actually starting book two.

I have edited seven out of thirty-three chapters. Just twenty-six to go!