SEEING ALL THE MISTAKES....

So the plan/ goal/ concept for this month's writing was to GET MY BUTT INTO GEAR AND FINISH THIS DRAFT OF THE NOVEL.

Hmm, you say. Not too bad when I've had two weeks off work. (Mind you I played more in the garden then with a computer). And I was only concentrating on a few things this draft.

First was tense. I have some of the novel in present tense, others in past perfect but on looking at it as a whole, I think it all needs to be in past tense. So I'm working through, changing the tense.

Easier said than done, it's more than a change from explore to explored..it's also run to ran etc etc and it affects so much of a sentence. You really have to look at a whole paragraph to see if it's working.


I've also added a few chapters to build a character's growth. Which, I know, will have to be worked on later. But my main object was to get the tense down...and then work from there.

BUT...OMG...I have so picked up on so many stereotypes...so many over used words and phrases. I obviously have a few that I LOVE and repeat using them.

And, honestly, if another character nods their head in agreement, I'm slapping them senseless!


Editing is a tiresome tiring but necessary evil. No matter how many times you go over and over something, you always pick up something new. Some work well and you are amazed at your turn of phrase. Others make you cringe and you wonder if someone else had sneaked into the house and plodded away at the laptop.


I'm making notes. Some cryptic ones scribbled on spare pieces of paper. A lot more are ideas floating around that mire of a brain. Trying to get them to settle into some sort of sense of 'this is the way to get it done'.

Even though I find this horrible...not fun...boring... quite disciplined, and definitely not as fun as that first joy of putting words down, I find I learn more and more about myself and my writing style.

The good, the bad, and the downright ugly.


Vicki 

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