I am tired of my own words
Mar. 13th, 2010 09:43 pmOK, so I've been working on this children's book -- writing one, not reading one, I'll say just in case you were confused. I've mentioned it over on LJ, but figured I'd use the space here to vent a little bit for what it's worth.
Basically, if I haven't bored you about this previously, it's about a stray dog who finds a home, written mostly from the dog's POV. It's aimed at middle school readers, so 9-12 year olds.
I was happy enough with what I'd done to get a professional critique of it from a published author with books in that same age range. The result was very positive. Lots of good comments for what I've got, and a few points to strengthen the plot and fine tune the language for the readers' level. (Best part was hearing that with these tweaks, "it's publishable." That's not a guarantee, mind you, but just knowing I haven't been wasting the last nearly nine months of writing is wonderful.)
Thing is, it's so hard to refocus on the nitty gritty details at this point. I know the story, I know how it needs to read, but just sitting down and moving this part there and tweaking that part isn't nearly as much fun as the writing itself. Finding time to write when it was all fresh and new and plotty was easy. The reworking? Lots of distractions. I was pleased I had a four-hour train ride to Chicago today (I'm here for a conference) just because it gave me specific time away from WiFi or TV to just focus on what needed to be done.
Anyone out there have any ideas how to keep things fresh? Or just some encouragement? I've got another six chapters to plunge through on rewrite yet, then need to do a complete re-read before I take the next step, and I don't want to be bored with my own work.
Basically, if I haven't bored you about this previously, it's about a stray dog who finds a home, written mostly from the dog's POV. It's aimed at middle school readers, so 9-12 year olds.
I was happy enough with what I'd done to get a professional critique of it from a published author with books in that same age range. The result was very positive. Lots of good comments for what I've got, and a few points to strengthen the plot and fine tune the language for the readers' level. (Best part was hearing that with these tweaks, "it's publishable." That's not a guarantee, mind you, but just knowing I haven't been wasting the last nearly nine months of writing is wonderful.)
Thing is, it's so hard to refocus on the nitty gritty details at this point. I know the story, I know how it needs to read, but just sitting down and moving this part there and tweaking that part isn't nearly as much fun as the writing itself. Finding time to write when it was all fresh and new and plotty was easy. The reworking? Lots of distractions. I was pleased I had a four-hour train ride to Chicago today (I'm here for a conference) just because it gave me specific time away from WiFi or TV to just focus on what needed to be done.
Anyone out there have any ideas how to keep things fresh? Or just some encouragement? I've got another six chapters to plunge through on rewrite yet, then need to do a complete re-read before I take the next step, and I don't want to be bored with my own work.