Wednesday, November 6, 2013

IWSG - November

I'm not sure it's an insecurity exactly, but the amount of work it's going to take to finish my historical fiction novel is starting to feel more than a little overwhelming. 

Giving up on it and moving on to an easier project isn't quite my style, so I decided to break the revisions into parts and focus on one part at a time in chunks of about 9 or 10 chapters.  It will take me as long as it takes me to finish this first section, but when it's done it will be done and then I'll move to the next section.

How do you manage writing projects when they start to feel overwhelming?


 
 
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12 comments:

  1. That's a smart way to do it. Look at it in parts, not the whole.

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  2. I'm working on a substantive edit of an older story of mine. Because I know the story so well, I can't see the forest for the trees. I came up with an idea that proved to work really well. Because the story is completed, I don't have to worry about beginning, middle and ending stuff. So I'm working backwards. Yep, that's right. Backwards. I get tired of reading my story from beginning to end because all my best editing always ends up in the first third of the book and I seem to slip or stagger my way through the rest. Starting with the last chapter takes me out of the "flow" of the story and just puts me in that one chapter. Editing is so much easier. I will work like this more often. Good luck.

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  3. I like looking at things in terms of parts as well. Still feels overwhelming at times but it somehow makes it more manageable for me.

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  4. Breaking up the editing in manageable chunks is a great idea! Wendy's method about working backwards is interesting. I've never done it, but I might because after I read my books for the hundredth time I start to memorize it. Reading backwards would help me to notice things that I wouldn't have been able to catch.

    When a project starts to overwhelm me I know it's time to take a step back from it. Maybe just a day or a week, but taking a break eliminates stress and helps me to refocus.

    Good luck!!

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  5. Breaking overwhelming projects down like you're doing it the key. I usually find that helps me as well. Even small steps forward take you somewhere. :)

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  6. Most times, my writing projects start to feel overwhelming as soon as I open that first blank page. :)

    You just gotta chunk away at it, exactly as you've done -- one section, one chapter, one paragraph, one sentence, one word, one letter at a time.

    And allow yourself to be a crappy writer -- don't get wrapped up in making it "perfect" at the get-go. Be willing to fill up page after page with absolute garbage as you write it. Otherwise, it just adds to the overwhelmedness. Plus, you'll usually find afterwards, that it really wasn't so bad after all. ;)

    Good luck!

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  7. Good point. Whenever I have a major project that requires all my attention, I put aside other smaller projects until the major one is done.

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  8. I'm writing an epic fantasy series that just keeps getting bigger and more complicated. So I do what you did...I broke it into smaller chunks to make it more manageable.

    It seems to be working all right.

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  9. Deep breaths, a solid plan and a timeline to stay on track.

    Breaking it up into manageable pieces sounds smart.

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  10. A little crying, a fair amount of chocolate, and then developing a plan. It sounds like you have the plan, but do you have any chocolate? :)

    Great IWSG post!

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  11. Yeah, I've been overwhelmed a time or two while working on this trilogy. This current WIP in particular. But you're right, the only way to tackle it is to break it up into manageable parts. One foot in front of the other until you finish. :))

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  12. Breaking it down seems like a great idea. Yes, I get overwhelmed too. At the moment it's mostly because I'm having lots of different ideas but not managing to form any of them into words.

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