One Scene at a Time

Far more often than not, being a successful writer entails just getting your bum in a chair and working, whether you feel like it or not. Technically, I know this, and yet it is hard to force myself to do it. It’s just writing. I don’t feel inspired. I can always write/edit later, right? One of the problems with being my own boss, I guess?

Sometimes that problem can be assisted by making it fun. After, as you all know, complaining about not being able to make myself edit this book I’ve been saying I’m going to edit since January, I asked a couple of friends to do an online editing/writing night with me. You know how much harder it is to allow yourself to procrastinate when you are sitting in front of a chat page with two friends, who consistently ask you how it’s going? Next to impossible. So, much to my delight, I am now two and a half edited scenes further into my book. Of course, that still leaves 125 single-spaced pages, but at least I am finally doing something. And, to top it off, I got to spend a wonderful four hours catching up and reading snippets of what my friends are writing. How much better can it get than that?

In addition, I learned from the Emigrant’s guidebook how to get from New York to Independence, which rifles were made in 1859 and subsequently used in the Civil War, and that Victorian chairs are famous for their upholstery (though I did still sneak a leather chair in, whether it was popular or not).

I also sent out another query yesteday, and learned that I cannot put a counter on my website unless I upgrade to the business plan, which I am quite annoyed about. How fun would it be to have a counter that let you all know how many queries I have sent out and how many have been rejected? Maybe it would hurt less if I added it to a counter.

I wonder if I could convince my friends to do this for me on a weekly basis? Maybe I’d actually finish before my trip in June…