It’s hard to believe I’m in Month 10 of my 14-Month Short Story Collection Plan. This has required a lot of longhand writing and computer time. Earlier this month, when I went to visit my writer friend in England, I didn’t take my laptop with me. However, I needed to have my manuscript ready by mid-June to send to an editor. To meet this self-imposed deadline, I printed out the remaining stories that needed a lot of work and made revision notes longhand while on the plane.
Fortunately, the universe seemed to align time in my favor. The day after I got home from my trip, my husband left for over a week to help his parents move from Long Island to Tennessee. Not that he interrupts me a lot, but it was a huge plus to have every evening by myself. An even better benefit was having an entire weekend at home by myself!
So, like the active planner that I am, I made a chart.
I outlined what worked remained on each story, and an estimate of how much time that work would take me to complete. Then I plotted out everything else I needed to do over the weekend: farmers’ market, clean the coop, inspect the hives, meal prep, laundry, etc. I learned that the writing alone would take me approximately 11 hours and 30 minutes.
I got up at 4:30a on Saturday morning, brewed coffee, and got to work on the stories. I skipped lunch. I read work aloud. By the afternoon, I switched to wine. I cut scenes. I added scenes. I. Got. So. Much. Done. The revisions only took me 8 hours!
When the kitchen table becomes my writing desk.
What was nice about this is that I finished everything on Saturday and had Sunday to recover. Another plus: I used Sunday to start binge-watching “A Handmaid’s Tale.”
I should receive the editor’s feedback next week. While July will be focused on applying her suggestions and making further revisions to the manuscript, my attention will also center on developing a beta reader program and perks. Have you ever managed a beta reader program? Tell me what works!
There’s a 4:30 in the am?
Haha! Oh, yeah. It’s just before 4:31 in the am.
I enjoy seeing when you make good progress on your goals. It’s inspiring!
Thanks! I find posting my progress every month helps keep me accountable. I am excited for the next few months: more revisions, the beta reader program, query letter writing, and then agenting!
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You are really kicking ass.Yay! What’s a beta reader program?That’s a new one on me. I’m finishing up a third book, a collection of stories called Little Earthquakes. Maybe I’ll use your gal too…
Thanks for reminding me that I need to post an update on the beta reader program. I decided not to do one. A beta reader program is when you gather a group of people who will read your manuscript and provide you general feedback. You can pay them, trade reading services, offer some other incentive like naming a character after them, and in return you can have them fill out a questionnaire or provide a written response to your whole manuscript. I’ll include a post in the coming months about why I ultimately decided against a beta program. Congrats on your latest collection!! I love the title. Picking a title is something I struggle with.