Mission Complete!

Well, I didn’t have classes today, so I decided to be productive. I edited all day long, except for the two hours I did a couple of errands. I started at 8 this morning. My count when I started was 36,711 words. I reached my goal of COMPLETING MY EDITING by the end of March. I feel great! I edited 58,896 words today.

95607 / 95607
(100%)

I am a machine!

Editing Check In

Well, I’ve come back down from my engagement high a little. I’m still mostly in the air, but I’ve decided it’s time to get back to work. I have a paper to write this week, but other than that my school life has finally calmed down some. It’s still crazy to me that I only have 12 credits and this is by far the busiest semester I’ve had. Odd. Anyway, here’s the word count/progress bar for my editing thus far:

27063 / 95607
(28.31%)

I’m still going to try to get this sucker edited by the end of March. It’s still doable. I’ve got 5 days still. Let’s see what happens!

Yes!

My anniversary with Glenn is on the 21st. It’ll be 2 years. To celebrate our anniversary, we went to Nags Head, NC. It’s about a hour and a half away. We spent the day just hanging out, but when we go to the beach…

He asked me to marry him. And I said yes! I’ve been crying off and on since. He proposed with the ring in a PokeBall. He said, “Nerdy [my nickname], I choose you. Will you marry me?”

We’re hoping to get married next March. I feel like I’m dreaming.

And so, no more editing was done. I’ve got to come back down to Earth first.

Editing Word Count Check In

I told myself that I would post my count to keep me motivated. It’s been working rather well. I finished the paper that was hanging over my head, so I spend this evening editing. It felt great, if not a little painful at times. (Did I really write that?) But I’ve found a couple of little gems in there, which made me happy. I’m glad there’s something in the draft that I like.

Anyway, here’s the important part! Tonight’s progress:

11083 / 95607
(11.59%)

Just gotta keep on chugging!

Bad, But Not Terrible!

I finally started editing.  I wanted to start a couple days ago, but school obligations kept me from starting.  My Chinese presentation and world literature paper are nearly complete though!  My goal is still to finish editing by the end of March.  And if I absolutely cannot do it, by the end of the first week in April will be my new goal.  I edited the first chapter and didn’t want to rip my eyes out of my head, so I’m taking that as a good sign.  I have to keep telling myself that this is a draft and it’s going to have mistakes, that it’s supposed to be flawed.  I saw a few glaring errors and felt a little embarrassed that this was what I gave to readers to proof and give feedback.  

Here’s how I did tonight:

2200 / 95607
(2.3%)

Not a whole lot, but it’s a start.  And that’s what I need–to start.

There’s no where to go but up!

I’m a Bad Writer, Clearly

I’ve had the first draft of a novel done since December 27, 2011.  It’s just sitting there waiting for me to start editing it.  I wanted to let it set for a month to give me enough time to become detached from it and forget what I was trying to say.  It makes it easier for me to find my mistakes that way.  Except, I didn’t edit at all in February.  Not one word.  Truth be told?  I haven’t even opened the file since finishing and printing a hard copy.  That was sometime in early January.  

It’s almost the middle of March.  -.-  I wanted to have the edit complete by the beginning of March so I could start on a second draft or a polishing job.  Yeah.  That isn’t going to happen.  But, I CAN finish the edit by the end of March.  

I’d like to lie and say that I haven’t been editing because I’ve been so busy–which is partially true, I have been busy with school, but not that busy.  I did NaNo while taking 5 classes.  I only have 3 this semester (because of the crappy class times!), so really I haven’t been that busy.  I’ve just been lazy, plain and simple.  Some of it was nerves, but the majority of my procrastination has been sheer laziness.  

So to fix my laziness and light a fire under my rear, I’m posting this here.  I will hold myself accountable to public shame for not reaching my goal.  Starting tonight, I will post a word count bar like the NaNo ones that tracks my progress to the end of the draft.  

Feel free to harass me about editing.  XD  

Facing the Beast

With the draft of my novel complete, I’ve been lazily ignoring it.  I know, I know.  It’s terrible.  It has been handed off to my readers, some of whom have returned it to me.  The remarks have been thus far been positive, but that’s making me a little nervous.  The praise is great and does wonders for my writing ego, but I know there’s mistakes and they haven’t been addressed.  

Of course, me actually rereading and editing this will help.  I haven’t opened the printed out copy yet.  Or the Pages document.  Honestly?  I’m getting nervous to look at it.  In my head, it’s still a glorious little draft.  The only draft that I haven’t wanted to bury my head in the sand when someone reads it.  A part of me doesn’t want to find the mistakes.  Editing does crazy things to me.  

Part of my novel-neglect (and my blog!) has been because of school.  I’m only taking 12 credits this semester, but it’s been my busiest yet!  I’ve had two papers accepted into a research conference, and getting those prepared has taken more of my time than I anticipated.  But I can’t blame my editing-neglect on time constraints.  It’s mostly because I’m just a lazy editor for my own work.  I’m a great editor for everyone else though!  Funny how that works, isn’t it?  ;)

How about y’all?  Is there anything you dread in the writing process.  Editing, drafting, and rewriting have always been a struggle for me.  I’m too harsh on my own work.  Do I really need to agonize over the word “and” for an hour?  Exactly.  ;p