Monday, May 18, 2009

Pass me the Cookies, Please


I'm trying. I really am trying to take a break from my WIP and wait a week or so to edit. Yesterday I even wrote a short story and submitted it to Chicken Soup.


I have a stack of information to learn for my broker's course that waits for me like a lion in front of a den.

But my story calls. How long is long enough to put that distance from it so I can look at it with a critical fresh eye?


How long before I decide the story really does stink and why waste my time even doing it?


So okay, I'm refocused. I'm going to force myself to wait a little longer. Even if I have to eat an entire box of Nilla wafers to get through.
So what are you waiting on today?

24 comments:

Greg C said...

Funny you should ask. I came to work all set to finish my work WIP but the computer system I am using is down this morning. Now I am waiting so that I can get the project finished. I was all set to go too when I got to work. Oh well I guess I can always read blogs. :)

Helen Ginger said...

Tell me that Office Beautiful photo is not your office. I'm sitting here looking woefully around at my desk and back up at your post. There goes an hour of my day - I must straighten up and make sense of my office now. Aww, man.

Helen
Straight From Hel

Jessica Nelson said...

That is one gorgeous office!

You know, it's not like you absolutely have to wait. You could run through your wip and check for grammar, typos, etc. Then wait a bit to come back for content. :-)

Yolanda said...

Put those Nilla Wafers into a tall glass, just push and push until the glass won't hold any more and then pour on the milk and eat with a spoon....delish!



Waiting....healing with my siblings and dad. God's timing....

Jody Hedlund said...

I think the longer you are a writer, the less you need to wait to begin editing. After all, when you're that mult-pulbished author some day and you're on a deadline, you won't have the luxury of waiting before you start editing! I think the trouble is knowing when we're ready to start submitting. We often rush into that process before our MS is ready.

Great Grandma Lin said...

well, I'm waiting to clean off my desk so my office will look like yours. my smart aleck son said to get rid of paper but I was born in a different generation than him and need stacks of paper to shuffle. LOL

Janna Leadbetter said...

Each writer is different, but I wasn't really able to see Bliss Lake with the right amount of clarity until a year after I wrote it. To be fair, I learned a lot about myself in that year, and about my written voice, which has affected my rewrites and what will be the final outcome.

Pray about it and think it over. You'll feel it.

Julie Gillies said...

I think one week is plenty, Terri. Especially if you've taken time to work on something else.

And can I just say, thank God cookies are involved.

Oh, and if that's a picture of your office, I want to come to your house to work. Gorgeous! I'll bring cookies...

Warren Baldwin said...

If you can't get it out of your mind, maybe that is a call to dig back into it and edit.

How do you get to submit articles to the Chicken Soup series?

KelliGirl said...

What a great feeling, to be so excited to get back to a project you're passionately involved with. I love your enthusiasm! It's contagious.

Blessings,
Kelli

Kathleen said...

Nilla Wafers, huh? My waiting-food-choices fall into the ice cream category, or warm bread & butter. I must be waiting a lot these days as I've ingested more than my usual food-favorites. At least that's what my scales tell me.

Hugs.
Kathleen

Kristen Painter said...

Oh you know, waiting to hear on this and that. But cookies won't help you hear any faster, I promise.

Andrea said...

I am waiting on this deep cough to go away. It is hard to write when you can hardly breath.

Blessings during the wait and continued prayers for the sale of your home and GOD's abundant blessing in your life.

andrea

Cheryl Wright said...

Obviously, I was waiting for your go-ahead to eat cookies, chocolate... whatever helps me calm my obsession to fiddle with my work.

Now that I've got it (your go-ahead) I'm heading out to my porch with coffee and a saucer of cream-filled chocolate cookies.

Thanks Terri. I knew I could count on you.

Jill Kemerer said...

It's funny, but Vanilla Wafers jumped in my grocery cart today too! Great minds think alike.

When do you plan on starting your next book? If you think about the new one, it will take your mind off the just finished. And if you go ahead and begin revising right away, your entire world won't revolve around it, because you know your next book will be terrific! That's what I tell myself, anyway...

Have a great day!

Tana said...

Is that your office? I'm completely impressed! Also i'm double impressed you whipped something up for chicken soup and sent it in! You're my hero today. =)

Melissa Amateis said...

I say if you're in the mood to edit, go for it!

Eileen Astels Watson said...

Oh, dear, I have no answer to this. But if your characters and story are still really calling your attention, then maybe it's a sign to read it over again. If you still think it's perfect, then, if you're like me, you'll know you need more time away.

Cindy R. Wilson said...

When I finish a manuscript, it's also hard for me to wait awhile to edit it. I want to jump in and see what I've written (some of those scenes pass by in a blur).

What am I waiting for? Proofs!

Jeanette Levellie said...

Oh, Terri!
I like to say I'm not a worrier, but I am worriedly waiting for the return of my ms. from a professional editor!

I am so thinking she's going to send it back and kindly say, "This is really not for the big leagues, dear. Needs too much work to even waste my time."

I told the Lord it's in His hands, but i keep grabbing it back!

Thanks for this post.

And i agree with Helen. Surely this came from a magazine, right?
jen

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

My desk stayed clean for a whole two days. Sigh. It's the maintenance that gets me every time.

I've been away from my book too long. It's time to jump back into the fray.

Blessings,
Susan :)

Carmen said...

I always post things too soon. The longer I wait to edit, the more problems I can see and the better my finished product. Editing a novel is just scary to me at this point...but you'll do fine with it. I'm still impressed you wrote a whole novel!

I'm with Warren...how do you know what they're looking for?

Warren Baldwin said...

Thanks, Terri, for the email and tip!

Angie Ledbetter said...

Waiting on life circumstances to change.