I just might be a little bit of both tonight. In the past two days, I’ve only done the bare minimum: Read through a couple of chapters, trying to edit and polish them yet again.
I also spent some time clearing out my gmail inbox. I’m the editor for the Northern Arizona RWA newsletter, and I belong to the newsletter editor’s loop at Yahoo groups. That means I get a ton of e-mailed articles from other newsletters — all on various aspects of writing.
As I was reading through some of them, trying to decide if I wanted to share them in our newsletter, I found myself trying to apply their advice to my own story.
Avoid using adverbs most of the time. Most of your dialogue tags should be “character said.” Make sure your title is original. Know your characters inside and out. Watch for shifting points of view.
It’s all good — make that great — advice. But when I try to think about all those things (and more!) while I’m going through my manuscript for the hundredth time, I get overwhelmed. I wonder if it’s good enough … if I’m good enough.
Don’t get me wrong: I know this manuscript needs help. It’s the first one I finished, and I’ve learned a lot since writing it. I’ve been fixing it up, but a part of me wonders if it’ll ever be good enough … or if I should just abandon it and move on to one of my many other candidates.
My mind is set, though. It will be my Golden Heart entry this year. Next year is soon enough for my current WIP, which is much, much better from the get-go.
At least that’s my opinion … and right now, mine is the one that counts.
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Ah, Arlene, I think it’s the downside of being a creative person to doubt oneself on occasion (or every other day!). Every writer I’ve talked to feels that way from time to time, and I know I’m going through some kind of major downswing after several rejections. Hang in there! When I feel that way, I remember something I learned when I was studying to be a counselor – you do the best you can with the resources you have available to you at the time. You can’t be hard on yourself if you left a few adverbs in there or if you head-hopped once and missed it. Just apply what you know, go back and apply what you learn as you edit. And you’re right, your opinion is the only one that matters right now. (P.S. – You may want to sign up to judge the GH – in a different category, of course – and get a look at what kind of entries they get. I GUARANTEE you the entries are all over the board when it comes to experience level.)
Thanks for the pep talk. I needed that!
Any time! 🙂