Deanna Repose Oaks

All about my written words.

editing

Pollen Is Upon Us

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Allergy season is killing me. As I am writing this my eyes are blurring from tears so much so I can’t see the screen. I have a raging headache. These are not things you, dear reader, will want me to expound on, but they are the only things on my mind right now. Well, that and the round of editing I’m currently torturing myself with. Who knew going over things again, and again, and again would find errors again, and again, and again?


But I’m blathering on about the side of writing that readers don’t really care about. Readers want stories… And today the well is dry. Well, not exactly. The well is full of pollen. SO MUCH POLLEN soon the bees won’t need flowers, they can just borrow my car.


I’m going to lie down now.

Journal #55

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I am editing, still. All the red ink is hard to get through – both emotionally and physically. I am drowning in the ink right now, mostly ink I am spilling. But, I know that the end result will be worth this pain. It is so daunting. I wonder how writers have the stamina to go through the editing process if they publish more than 1 book a year. I don’t know how they do it. But, I guess genre has a lot to do with it.

Poetry is easy to get through by comparison. It is so subjective to the reader that the writer just has to broadly paint something for the reader to then digest. Poems do not have to be perfect, or even well-written, to be good. But, I also feel like I hide in the poetry, for fear of a backlash for imprefection that is imagined.

I’m all over the map right now as well.

Journal #48

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I just spent the last two weeks in editing hell, for my day job. Not looking forward to being in editing hell for my book, but I’m headed in that direction. I have another few pages to write, which will put me in the sweet spot for the size of novel for the genre I am publishing in. I should be done with those pages this weekend if things go as planned. I’m not holding my breath though, as this book has had more hurdles than a hurdle event at the Olympics. But, I’m moving ever forward in this quest to finish this book. Go me!

Yes, I’m cheering my success of forward movement because I have to cheer myself on. Writing is such a solitary endeavor, I’m always hoarding my work so no one will see it so no one does and no one knows what it is about so no one can cheer for it. Well, they cheer for me, but they don’t cheer for the story… I’m cheering for the story.

Editing is almost here, and soon all the cheering may change. I’m more than a little scared, and a lot excited. I’m so glad my excitement about this book is getting the better of me, even beyond the thought of facing the red pen. My goal is to have round 1 of the red pen in late April.