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Tuesday 31 July 2012

Staying Focused.

Over the month of August I am going to be phenomenally busy. After receiving my edited manuscript last night - three days early, (thanks, Scott), my nose will be on the grindstone until I've completed my corrections.

Although I am extremely happy with my critique, this is not the time to become blase. I still have to go through everything with a fine tooth comb. Receiving an edited piece of work is fantastic but it's also a critical time where things can still go wrong. It is vital I remove my head from the clouds before I start work.

So, how am I going to do this?

  • I am going to commit a certain amount of time each day to work on my edits. I am also conscious of the fact that this type of work I cannot do over long intervals without a proper break in-between. I still want to see properly at the end of the day without an eye strain induced headache.

  • I am going to make my book my top priority once again and focus on that before anything else. This is my favourite point because it is the perfect excuse to let the dishes build up and the dust gather instead of suffering from burn out trying to do everything at once. I am going to give editing my all and then push myself a little further.

  • I am going to set aside some 'me' time. A half hour slot where I can focus on doing something I love. Reading a favourite book or taking my beloved dogs out for walkies. Something to do to let my brain recharge and focus on another activity.

So I would like to take this opportunity to thank my wonderful editor, Scott Morgan, for giving me the chance to grow into a better writer.

2 comments:

  1. Robert Burns wrote in his poem, "To a Mouse"

    But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane [you aren't alone]
    In proving foresight may be vain:
    The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
    Gang aft a-gley, [often go awry]
    An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
    For promised joy.
    ...

    You're are not alone in trying to succeed in this endeavor, but no matter how well we try to allocate time to different activities something is bound to come up which diverts our attention.
    You can be barrelling along making great progress in reviewing your editor's [suggested] changes that you don't want to lose the momentum you have at that moment, so instead of moving on or over to the next item on your TO DO list, you stay with reviewing your editor's [suggested] changes.

    I've been down this road myself recently, but not to the extend that you're at, at this time. I believe I've illustrated in my own blog in the past few days. I believe you're already following me, if you're not, I invite you to clink on my name to get to my blog and take a look at it to see where I'm coming from, and whether I've actually been on the same page you're on at this moment.

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  2. Hi Robin,

    Thanks for commenting. I've made progress already on my editor's changes and there isn't that many as I first thought.

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