We got our first snowfall in the Boise Valley this morning. I took Poppet out to do her business and was she ever in for a surprise. She was too little last year to go outside when there was snow on the ground, so this was very new to her. She tiptoed around, sniffing and scooting the snow with her nose, taking a few bites of the white fluff.
I worked for several hours straight, entering revisions. I know better than to work that long without getting up, stretching, moving around. I know better but did it anyway. Now my back is aching, and I plan to lay on the couch with an ice pack and watch in a movie. Which probably means I’ll fall asleep. Sigh.
I’m very close to being done with the revisions/rewrites. I’ve cut a huge chunk from the manuscript, shortening it quite a bit. But it’s about the same length as my last Zondervan release, so it should be okay — as long as I don’t have to cut too much more in these last few chapters. The manuscript is due 12/1. I’ll make it … by the skin of my teeth.
I’ve always marveled at authors who write long and bemoan having to cut and cut and cut. Me, I’m pithy. I’m always striving for length, always looking for places to add rather than cut. IMHO, it is easier to cut than to add. At least it has been easier to cut in the rewrites of LL.
Of course, the truth is most writers think the way another writer does it must be easier than the way she does it. That’s a fallacy. There is no easier way just as there is no right way. A writer must simply create the way she was created to create. A writer must simply "do the work." And it is work.
Several years ago, swamped by multiple deadlines as I often am, the Lord gave me this verse: "Be strong and courageous, and do the work . Don’t be afraid or discouraged by the size of the task, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. He will see to it that all the work related to the Temple of the LORD is finished correctly." (1 Chron 28:20) Since I have been called to write novels for the Lord, I adapted the last line to read: "He will see to it that all the work related to [name of my book in progress] is finished correctly."
I still have to "do the work." And work it is. Hard work much of the time. I can struggle over a single sentence for an hour. Hopefully that doesn’t happen often but happen it does.
Ah, the couch and ice pack beckons.
-rlh-
