The serious work

At this point I have two pieces that must be edited for publication. One is a novella (Farstep Station), about 40k long when I finish (and about 30k too long at the moment) and the other is a novel (Ada Nish Pura) of about 100k which will grow to something larger. The work is quite grueling in both cases. I don't mind it, but the lack of time is starting to drive me crazy.

I will pretty much have to drop everything else until I at least get the novella done. I think a couple weeks, maybe, if I can just focus and work I'm 28 pages into it already which should be about 7k words. As long as I don't do something stupid like erase everything again (which I did yesterday and had to start over), I'll be fine.

The novel has barely 15 pages completed so far. It's slower, going to take a lot more attention because of some odd little changes. Nothing I can't do, I just....

I just need to be able to focus. I want them both right, and right now everything BUT these two pieces are getting my attention. I may end up sequestering myself away from the computer and the Internet for a few days and see if I can get a real push on the work.

Now here's the part that most of you will cringe at:

I love editing and rewrites. I love them almost as much as writing the original story. In some cases more so when I see a problem that bothered me in the original and realize how to fix it. Farstep Station is one of those types of stories. Once I get this fixed and cut, it will go to the publisher who will then send it back with her changes -- and the parts where she points out I messed up the tense. I do that all the time, and I'm not sure why. I don't see it, sometimes even when she points it out to me.

The other one has already been to the publisher and is back in my hands again for revision adding some new material. It's nothing too difficult, but it is persistant work that will have to be worked into nearly every scene. The only big changes were suggestions that I made. After this it will go back, perhaps have more scene changes suggested, or possibly just go on for line edits.

It's funny to be working on two stories with almost opposite needs -- to cut the one and add to the other. I've done a lot of both, so neither particularly worries me. It's just this problem with focus that I have right now.

At any rate, the other pieces I've been working on will be set aside to work on the paying pieces.

Which I really should get back to now.