I wanted to check in with a progress report on the edits to my first chapter. In my previous post, I said that my goal was to finish editing/rewriting the first chapter of my book by last Sunday; I gave myself the weekend. Of course I didn't make my goal, however, I did get some of it finished before running into a brick wall.
I knew I wouldn't finish. It is my nature to do things this way: make a goal and not meet it. For me, the very act of making a goal and at least attempting it is important because it gets me moving. In this instance, after I ran into the wall, I spent the entire following week working on how I was going to resolve it. In the book,
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, the first chapter is titled "Show and Tell." Basically the point is to show your story through dialogue not narrative summary. The one thing I don't like about my book is it's breathless narrative, like it's being related in short bursts over the phone. My goal in the rewrite was to slow down the novel so you get to know the people, especially the main character; she could be you.
The gist of all of this typing is that I figured it out and can proceed. More progress when I make it.
On Edit:
I have finished the first chapter. I guess that is all it took: a week of anguish over edits. I may not survive the rest of this book.
