Discipline has been the subject for my last two posts,
and the point of my on-going topic is to preach myself a little sermon about persistence.
Persistence is a necessary quality for a writer. My hope is that I will listen
to my own good advice, and work regularly to finish the novel that I have taken
such an embarrassingly long time to finish.
My excuse is that I seem to suffer from a total lack
of energy. As a possible solution, I recently moved to a retirement center. Here
my meals are prepared, my apartment is cleaned and I have an on-call handyman.
It’s great, and now I’m left with no excuses and intend to work diligently. I’m
keeping track of my progress with this Discipline Journal.
My new schedule is to come in from breakfast, exchange
shoes for slippers, then sit down and write. The last month I’ve been doing
much better. I’ve been writing each day and I can see the light at the end of
the tunnel. I’m reading through my first draft and making notes as I go. Later I will go back and
connect the dots (i.e. clues, red herrings, etc.) as I go.
The first three-quarters of the book seems okay to me.
The last quarter needs work, but that’s okay because I love rewriting.
Yesterday I spent two hours honing one page, but it was worth the effort. Today
I’m beginning with Chapter 20 and intend to soldier on, one word at a time. The
important thing is that I’m working every day. This is such a good feeling.
My goal is to finish the book by the end of this August
and send it to my first readers. I’ll keep you posted on my progress. Keep your
fingers crossed for me.
I’m still struggling to find the right name. Currently
I have a list of four possible titles.
Thanks for listening.
Hugs,
Jackie
1 comment:
Good for you, Jackie. I, too, love rewriting and much prefer it to the first draft. Writing every day is a good feeling and one that I adhere to whenever possible. As some writers have said, "It's as important as breathing."
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