When to Say When

Knowing when to stop is an important trait to possess. I am sad to say it is not one of mine. In the past, I have pushed beyond the limit. Today that is not the case. After four hours of poking at my rough draft, I gave up.

The two beta readers who received my first chapter, responded with good feed back. I applied their notes and my chapter was better. Moving on to chapter two I discovered it will have to be rewritten entirely to match the changes in chapter one. Like the familiar cliche, I moved one step forward and took two steps back.

After beginning work on chapter two, I discovered things which I needed to add to chapter one, mainly the MC's goal or motivation. The good news is I know where I can add a few paragraphs and not interrupt the flow of the story. The bad news is I have looked at this chapter for so long it seems old and ugly. The solution was for me to note where the changes need to be made and press on.

The editing process is moving along, though at a slower pace than I would have liked. I long for the care free days of November when my hands were flying over the keyboard. In the time it takes me to write 150 words now, I was writing over a thousand then. Instead of bemoaning my slow process, I probably should be congratulating myself for having the courage to keep moving forward. At this rate, it will be June before my second draft is finished.