The Year of Editing

Looking back on this year, I realized that I did very little actual writing, but TONS of editing. At last count, I edited one manuscript (the first in my series) four times (with one final set of edits this month, so make that FIVE times), and the second novel twice. Let's see - both books are 400 pages, and each time I edit/revise, I go through the manuscript to make changes, move scenes around, delete, add, trim, etc - and then I read over the manuscript again for inconsistencies. That means I've read nearly 6,000 pages this year (heh, that doesn't include the 2,400 essays/papers I grade in one school year).

Yes, this has apparently been The Year of Editing, and my eyes/brain are exhausted.

But, I have hope that next year will be The Year of Writing!! Sure, revisions are a vital form of writing (I've had to create many, many brand-new scenes within the text of these novels) - but writing a book from start to finish? I miss it so much: the brainstorming process, the rough draft, the fleshing out characters, the completing a novel. I started writing Book 4 this past summer, but had to pause, to do more rewrites on Book 1. So, I'm eager to re-visit Book 4 in the New Year, with fresh eyes, and hopefully finish it during summer.

I'm totally convinced that my Year of Editing was necessary, and yes, it was terribly productive (and hopefully will produce some (published) results in 2011?). But I'll soon be ready to move on. To be a "writer" again. As much as I love all my characters, I've nearly worn out my welcome with them in Books 1 and 2, and am ready to move on to fresh characters soon. Can't wait to see what they have in store for me!