Thursday, July 7, 2011

Goal Change!

So... I realized something that will completely throw any semblance of seeking balance out the window.

I forgot to mention this earlier, but as of the end of July, I will be finishing my degree once and for all. And that means studying. LOTS of it.

It means that I will start spending a lot of time on summaries and concentrating on economics. From the very beginning. In other words: At the end of July.

Which means that I won't be able to revise all the way into August. On the contrary. I'm going to have revise 300 pages and do two editing rounds in three weeks. Because I am not letting anything compete for my attention while I'm studying. (At least it's on font 14 for now, so not quite as bad as it sounds.)

So... If I'm not on as regularly as before, or if I'm slow to respond, or rare on the blogs, please think of me, because I'll be up all the way to my neck in edits and revisions.

Why then, you might wonder, am I in such a hurry? Well... I won't be able to edit for three and a half months. Which means that I'll be able to give my crit partners more than enough time to crit my story. When I'm done with exams in November, I'll be throwing myself into rounds 3-6. Hopefully I'll be in 7-10 half way through December. And 10 to 15/16 at the end of January.
Then I'll decide what I'll do with the completed result. Will I query? Will I look for publishers? Will I e-publish? I'll see. By then, the market might be calm enough for me to see what is the best option.

In the mean time, I have a crap load of work to do.

Have any of you ever attempted to get through revisions as fast as I will be? How did it go? Am I completely insane to even think it's possible?

30 comments:

  1. I think it's great that you want to focus on one thing at a time. Not getting distracted is your key to success :) Good luck, my friend. We're all rooting for you.

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  2. You can do it! The fastest I've ever revised a novel was ONE WEEK. That was for the first book, Touch Of Fire. My wonderful CPs put it at the top of their lists, read it fast, and offered suggestions. I revised and sent it to the editor a week later.

    Usually my revisions for a whole novel take 3-6 weeks.

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  3. You have an excellent plan and I hope you meet the goal! I know what you mean about not wanting something else to fight for your attention and plenty of time for your crit partners to disect the story!

    I, myself, am finishing up my 403 page novel and on the 16th it'll be in three people's hands for critiques. 2-4 week critique. Revise, love it, send query. Pray for representation. Let the fun begin come September.

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  4. I'm trying to myself, right now. The MS is finished so I've been shoving 6 chapters through my critique group since January. However, I received and e-mail yesterday by the head critter. From now on they will only take up to 12 pages per session. OMG. This throws a wrench in my plans. And in September, Sweetman and I will be in London and then Isreal. We'll be gone for two weeks but I'll have my notebook and Kindle will be loaded with some good reads.

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  5. I once submitted the first third of a story to a contest when it was all that I had of the story. I just wanted to get the judges' feedback. Imaging my surprise when the story was moved on to finalist and I had two weeks to submit the full. I was insane with writing and revision. I wasn't too nice to be around either. But the story received an honorable mention award in the end. I was thrilled. So yeah, it can be done.

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  6. Oh wow good luck with the revisions and finsihing the course. Then take a well earned break oh and my blogfest of course LOL! :O)

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  7. Oh, I actually sort of LOVE that kind of deadline--that makes me speed up to it because then I have to be DONE for a while. It is especially critical for editing. I hope you get it all done, and SUPER good luck on your exams! I think it all sounds like a very good plan.

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  9. Good luck with your studying!
    Anything is possible, if you set your mind to it. What works for one person may be insane for another, but it's all relative!

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  10. Good luck with it, but I know you'll be able to do it. It's very smart to not have anything distract you from studying too.

    I always plan to get done in revisions a lot sooner than I ever do. *laughs* I originally thought I would finish the rewrite of Virtuoso by the end of February. *laughs again* Yeah, that didn't work. I'm such a procrastinator, though, when it comes to things like that.

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  11. Good luck with your revisions and studying for your degree! You can do it!

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  12. Good luck with revisions and with studying! You can do it! It might sound overwhelming trying to cram so much into the time you have, but at least you're being smart about not overloading yourself later. I'm cheering you on!

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  13. I don't think I've ever done revisions quite that fast. I might have attempted a few times but I am generally a very slow writer. I wish you luck and speedy writing. And good luck on your studying after July as well. Sounds exciting to have it all done and no distractions sounds like the way to do it :D

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  14. Good luck with studying and your revisions, it sounds like you have a great plan. And congratulations on being so close to finishing your degree, how wonderful. I'm sending you good luck wishes and a round of applause!!

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  15. Best of luck to you Misha! I love that feeling when you focused on revisions and you can zoom right through it. Looking forward to reading Doorways! :)

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  16. You can do it, Misha! I find that I'm most productive when I have a lot going on. You'll do fine. When I'm swamped, I tend to work late into the night with the revisions. I put on music and it gets me amped up to keep going. Of course, mornings suck (LOL), but the idea that I accomplished so much the evening before makes me feel better.

    And Congrats on being thisclose to getting your degree!

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  17. Can't blame you for addressing your priorities. Good luck!


    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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  18. =) Ready, set, go! Sprint to the finish and go for gold. It's opportunities like these where we're able to prove to ourselves we're stronger than we think eh?

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  19. I think you have a great plan and that by setting good goals you will make it. I know when I was setting goals to write I was able to finish my first novel in three months. It is definitely possible :)

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  20. That's a lot of intense work. Anything is possible so I wish you all the best.

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  21. I can't do revisions fast. I always feel I'm leaving something or missing somethings. I try to take the edits slow. But, I know others that fly through them.

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  22. Thanks all for the great show of support! What was the shortest time you ever spent on revisions?

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  23. The fastest I have ever done revisions on a novel I wrote (120K words) was seven months. I am slow as hell when it comes to my own stuff. So do I think you are insane? Just a wee bit. But I still <3 u

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  24. For me? I can burn through the initial writing part pretty fast, but I HAVE to take my time with revisions. It's all individual. Good luck!

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  25. I did this last year for my book and it drove me nuts. My writing has improved since I first drafted Treasures. That book went through so many changes that I was tired of working on it. But in the end, it is slick and shiny.
    Nancy
    N. R. Williams, The Treasures of Carmelidrium

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  26. I've never tried to revise that fast but I think it could be possible. All I can say is good luck!!!

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  27. I wanted to wish you the best of luck with your studying. It is tough, but you can do it.

    I have done a lot of editing the past year and a half and some of the editing I have done in a short amount of time, so it can be done.

    I believe you are talented enough to achieve any goal you set for yourself Misha. Good luck and all of the best.

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  28. You can do it! You have it mapped out and I think we all have that ability to give ourselves the extra push to do what we need to do. Late nights and early mornings, hope you've got some coffee on hand! Good luck, I'll be checking in to see how things are going.

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  29. You may be insane, I don't know, but if you are, you'll have good company, me! I'm subjecting myself to a brutal revision schedule over the next month, though this is, in essence the third revision go around. I've had a request for the first 100 pages of my book and I'm trying to get it as polished as possible AND send it before the end of July. I've sent it out to beta readers and I'm chugging along with polishing up the rest. I do stop and think "everyone says NOT to rush, I am crazy, an idiot, or both. And it could completely crash and burn, but I'm going for it. In my heart, I feel like the book is ready (almost) and I'm going to jump off the ledge. Speak to me in September/October and I'll tell you if it was a big FAIL or not!

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  30. I haven't done revisions like that yet, but I know you'll get through them just fine! :) You're great at them.

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