Saturday, I was fussing at a garden hose before finally asking my husband to reconnect the hose to the spigot. He found a wrench. “With this,” he explained, you’re stronger than the strongest man in the world.” It wasn’t a task I needed to hand off, after all.
Also on Saturday (busy day), our son pointed out that the upstairs hall’s light fixture was full of dirty water. Oh, and that there was a big brown spot on the ceiling. This is never a good thing.
My husband braved the attic (and whew, is it HOT in the South in August), and discovered the drip pan thingy for the furnace/A/C had overflowed. He soaked up the tray’s water with old towels. He poured bleach into the pipes to clear them. Then he emptied the light fixture.
But then—the downstairs A/C suddenly wasn’t working. Did I mention the August heat in the South?
It was time to call in the big guns. Yesterday we had an air conditioning repairman come out. He stepped right into his heroic role of restoring cool air to our family.
Yesterday I also emailed a draft to my agent. My September 1 deadline is fast approaching for Memphis BBQ series book 1. I’ve fiddled and fiddled and fiddled with the draft. I’ve added scenes, removed scenes, rewritten characters, and changed the ending. I changed the murderer and then changed it back.
It was a task that I could handle myself at first. And I already had the tools. But then it became like the leaky drip pan. I needed to call in a pro. I’d done all I could on my end, but it needed to go one step farther.
I realized it had gotten to the point where I needed another set of eyes. I needed someone who was going to tell me straight-up and in short order what I should consider changing….before my Berkley editor gets it. My agent, who has a vested interest in my writing career, was the perfect recipient.
Signs it’s time to hand over our project to another reader:
- You’ve read the entire draft beginning to end ten times, but now discover typos that you’ve overlooked every other time.
- You’re at deadline at you suddenly consider a major overhaul on one big section of your book (that may actually be fine without it, but you’ve lost perspective.)
- You’re so familiar with your own characters (since they’re living in your head) that you can’t tell whether they’ve been introduced or described well to your reader (who doesn’t yet have them in his head.)
- You have several different beginning and ending scenarios and can’t decide between them.
I think handing off a project too early isn’t good—like the garden hose, it’s something we can handle ourselves. Too many different opinions can do serious damage to a work in progress. I don’t like people reading my unfinished drafts.
But there comes a point where the draft is completed and we’ve struggled through it enough. That’s the time when it’s a relief to discover what a fresh set of eyes and a different perspective can do for us.
Love your tips for when to get a fresh set of eyes. There a lot of DIY with writing–these days, I find pulling all-nighters when I’m struggling with the structure of a magazine feature is basically essential, because it’s the only time I’m not distracted–but there are also times when I completely lose perspective. I’ve been involved in peer writing groups for years, and I also have several trusted readers for different kinds of stories. Anyway, you can find more about writing process on Talking Writing (http://talkingwriting.blogspot.com) and my own site (http://marthanicholsonline.blogspot.com). Cheers to all who toil on with the word equivalents of wrenches…
Good advice. I’m looking forward to your Memphis BBQ series, by the way.
I’m at the point where I’m considering asking the A/C repairman to read my manuscript and give me suggestions!
You are such a gifted writer, Elizabeth, and always have such great tips for the rest of us. The analogy to household issues is so apt. I have a very handy hubby and it’s a good thing. I haven’t a clue when it comes to fixing things, but in my life and in my writing, I want to fix everything myself. I will use your metaphor wisely.
Karen
I love belonging to a critique group and having continous feedback, and I have a first and second reader for my manuscripts. Not that I do everything they say or follow every suggestion, mind you. In the same vein, I never hesitate to call the experts right away. For instance, I would have called an electrician about the water in the light bulb…..
Couldn’t agree more – with both the need for another set of eyes and the need for air-conditioning!
Great post and so true. I’ve revised my current project at least ten times and on a recent “final glance” before another submission, started pulling it apart again. Cut and paste–wonderful and dangerous!
Wow, water sloshing about in the electrical stuff is probably not a good thing. Glad that got solved.
I feel your pain on the revision thing. It all does begin to run together after a few times through. I’m in cutting mode just now. However, now I’m beginning to question if I’ve cut too much. As you point out, I know the links between all the events, but, is it now—or was it ever—clear to the reader. Dunno. Need another set of eyes.
Hang in there…even your worst, is very good. Not to worry.
Best Regards, Galen
Imagineering Fiction Blog
Great advice and good visuals to go with each step. (And so glad the water in the bulb wasn’t as bad as it sounded!)
Helen
Straight From Hel
Well, I was GOING to say something pithy and wise, but I’m too busy ROTFL over Alan’s comment!
~Cleo
Coffeehouse Mystery.com
“Where coffee and crime are STILL brewing…”
I probably like too much feedback and too soon. Hard to say what draft I’m in or how finished it is. This round of feedback I’ve gotten has been consistent and it is cheering although it involves a lot of revision. Hmmm…? Now I will get to it. I love how your topics are always right when I need them!
I agree. I do a LOT of self-editing, but even when I’ve got it to where I consider it as polished as it can get, when I get it back from my editor there are many things that I just couldn’t “see” that needed correcting and/or rewriting better.
The Old Silly
I live in Michigan and here there are actually people who build new houses WITHOUT A/C! They’re crazy, of course, but it happens nonetheless. Although our summers are shorter than those of our southern neighors, it can still get quite hot, not to mention incredibly humid. (But I still love the big lakes!) When I build my elaborate mansion, I’m definitely putting in A/C.
In other news, knowing when to stop the editing can be just as tough as the editing itself. At some point, ya gotta let it go.
I so agree with you. I know it’s time to pass a manuscript on when I begin to make changes for the sake of making changes, like deciding to make a red sweater blue instead.
Glad you got your air back on quickly.
No AC in the South… we went through that last May. Ugh!!!
Your second point strikes home. At the last moment, I had to rewrite the ending of my fifth YA book, as my early reader said it was too obvious. Ack! Talk about panic! Now I think I have it right though…
L. Diane Wolfe “Spunk On A Stick”
http://www.circleoffriendsbooks.blogspot.com
http://www.spunkonastick.net
http://www.thecircleoffriends.net
I agree. Some writers are very reluctant to seek outside comment at any stage, and very reluctant to accept editing, but unless one is an extremely gifted writer (and even then…) this seems overly defensive to me.
good luck w/ the a/c repairs; hope they keep :)
excellent advice on new eyes. i don’t like talking about my WIP or my challenges (often setting it aside and coming back – if there’s the luxury of time — works) — but there does come a time for the big guns. kudos to you for seeing the truth of it.
Martha–All-nighters…those are rough! Burning the candle at both ends can’t be good for too long, but sometimes that’s the only quiet time. Thanks for your links; I’ll check them out.
Galen–Cutting. Ugh. Yes, sometimes I cut things and the remaining text seems completely logical to me, but that’s because I made it up! Yes, other readers are good then.
Rose–Thanks so much, Rose! I appreciate that. And thanks for coming by.
Helen–It’s a wonder we weren’t electrocuted! Sometimes the pros should be brought in even earlier than we think they should.
Alan–TOO funny! Actually, I think my A/C guy might have more insight on my WIP than I do right now.
Cleo–Me too. :) And, re your tagline, if I don’t get some coffee pretty soon, I may commit a crime myself…
Labanan–Back to the drawing board! I’m sure I’ll be right there with you soon.
Marvin–Oh, me too. With “Pretty is as Pretty Dies,” my editor pointed out that I started a scene with the protagonist wearing sweatpants and she ended up the scene in a skirt. Hmm…I must have been distracted during the writing of that scene.
Karen–I like to fix things, too. Actually, I really get frustrated when I can’t do it all myself. But when I TRY to do it all myself…I start to mess up. I need to call in reinforcements earlier sometimes.
Patricia–You have the most wonderful critique group I think I’ve ever heard of. When you write about them, I start seeing green.
Jane–Oh, I’m right with you on the random changes. Why do we do these things to ourselves?
Elspeth–A/C–it’s one of the absolute necessities of life down here.
Joan–That’s when I make the most boo-boos…cutting and pasting.
Diane–Rewriting endings is NOT fun! I did that for “Pretty” and I was a wreck. But then I liked it so much better than the first ending. Good luck with yours!
Jack–My college roommate is going up to Michigan for work in a few days and was bragging it was 75. That would be WONDERFUL! But then…we have winter days in the 50s. Can’t really complain about that…
Martin–I’ve heard of a few writers like that recently. I can’t imagine…even Hemingway and Fitzgerald needed Max Perkins for editing.
I appreciate your husband’s role around the house! I play a similar role in mine, but not very effectively!
I get tired of reading through the manuscript over and over, but I know it has to be done. And everytime I go through it I find something else. It’s unbelieveable. Good luck on this next stage!
Hi Alex–I agree with you completely. If we get help too early in the process, we run the risk of completely reshaping our ms. I want it to be my baby. But later on, when we’re just making the rounds with the WIP and stabbing ineffectively at it–time to bring in the pros.
Great blog you have, by the way.
I am so glad you called in the professionals and got the AC problems straight. I live in the south too – “hot” seems such a benign word for describing summertime in the south – if they only knew! lol. Rewrites. I’m guessing that no matter who you are rewrites can be trying. They make us second guess ourselves. Inevitably the writing does get tighter, things we missed in the original ms gets fixed all the while tugging at our insecurities and desire to make the book the absolute best it can be.
Nancy, from Realms of Thought…
Nancy–And today was even worse! And the darned thing went on on the fritz again. HOT. You’re so right about the revisions…they’re wicked to get through and I always feel uncertain about the results.
Warren–It’s quite a chore, isn’t it? Good luck to you, too!