My last blog post saw me clearing the decks to focus on my second novel throughout September, in the hopes that I might finish my next round of revisions and have it in decent shape to submit to my publisher in November. That’s definitely not going to happen.

 

Two days after I posted that, my publisher sent me the final edits on my first novel, asking me to review them, make necessary amendments and send the manuscript back within 6-8 weeks. 

 

I had hoped to be able to work on both novels throughout September, but it quickly became apparent that I couldn’t hold them both in my head at the same time. So, the second novel got put on hold again while I was concentrating on the first, since that was the one with an external deadline (and a publication contract).

 

I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting and improving the first novel, and the editorial comments from the publisher were constructive, reasonable, specific and easy to implement. The manuscript went back to them on Monday, so today was my next scheduled writing session after completing that task.

 

I went back to my previous plan of doing three writing sessions per week and spending at least the first hour on the second novel every time. I still have a clear plan of what I need to do, but I’m still having trouble actually getting on with it. Having the excuse to put it off while revising the first novel was great, as there were good reasons for doing it so I didn’t have to feel guilty.

 

But, as of today, I have no excuses left.

 

So, I opened up the latest draft, looked through my notes on the next set of required revisions, and set to work.

 

It went…okay.

 

I added in some good stuff and crossed several bullet points of my list. And it was good to get back into the story, since I do believe in it and want it to be finished. But I was very aware that I wasn’t giving it my all. I skimmed over some of the harder aspects, rationalising that certain things were fine as they are. And I was glad to stop after (not quite) an hour.

 

So, there’s definitely room for improvement!

 

But I started and I achieved some things. And that was the most important hurdle to clear today. A greater sense of dedication will hopefully develop as I get more into it. And there are always more rounds of revision to pick up on some of the details I may have missed. Today, I made a start and that feels good.