Since sometime in November I've been in the Deep End of the Revision Pool. It's been an interesting time, one that has taught me a lot about writing and about myself as a writer. I hadn't expected to see the book grow to be as long as it is (215 Word doc pages, 52,500 words--up from 30,000 words when I began querying on it) nor had I expected to see the story become... well, a real book.
I took the weekend to go through my final checklist of recommended changes and do a final read-through, start-to-finish of the entire book. I finished just after midnight on Monday morning and immediately sent it off to my beta readers and my CP. Then I went to bed, knowing I was both happy with the book and pretty danged sick and tired of working on it.
It's all I've worked on for two months, both on the bus rides to and from werk and most of my evenings and weekends. When I get into this kind of mindset, I stop reading books and spend far too many hours in front of a computer screen.
Now I'm planning on taking the week off from my home Mac and spend some time with that stack of books I've been meaning to read.
(First on the list is Elizabeth Edwards' "Saving Graces." I read the chapter on the death of her son, Wade, on the ride in today. It is some of the most emotionally raw, yet elegant writing I've ever read)
So, I've come up for air for the week.
It feels great. (And exhausting)
How's your writing? How's your week? And have you chosen a Word for the Year? Let me know in the Comments!
-- Tom
