Friday, January 21, 2011

Letting Go (Also, a Revision Smackdown)

Back in 2006, my husband and I decided that we were ready to become homeowners. It only took us a few weeks to find the perfect place--a fixer-upper condo with a brick fireplace, two (2!) full bathrooms, and a gigantic patio. We had a blast tearing out the pink carpet and the flowered wallpaper, and we painted the walls in warm, cozy hues. We filled the big patio planter with tomatoes and herbs. We installed a hammock.

But Rachel, you may ask, wasn't 2006 a bad time to buy a home? Why yes, my friend, you are correct. Over the years, we watched the value plummet, and our fixer-uppering dwindled to a halt. Things we had looked forward to changing--the archaic bathrooms, the scarred kitchen floor--became things we accepted. It took a couple of years, but we've finally realized that this little adventure is not going to have a happy ending, and so yesterday we took the first steps toward hitting eject.

It's not too hard to make the writing analogy here. I love my home, and I'm attached to it, but I've got to let it go now, because it's not right for us. It's pulling us down into a black hole, both financially and emotionally. The same goes for those favorite scenes--you wrote them, and you want very much for them to work, but sometimes you've got to make that tough call and let them go so that you don't pull your reader out of the story. To use my mother's favorite phrase, Such is life.

In other news, I've got a week left until we head off to Europe for a ten-day vacation, and I'm Really Freaking Serious about getting my content revisions done before then. To that end, I've drawn up a Google calendar for my Revision Smackdown, an eight-day plan to hit all the chapters that need major content changes. Here's what it looks like:


My goal is to get all my major content changes done before the trip, so I can leave for ten days, come back refreshed and ready to polish, maybe send it out for a last few beta reads, and hopefully soon I will be ready to send this puppy out into the world and see what happens. At least that is the plan! I'm supposed to fit this around trip preparations, getting my condo ready for a sales showing, and, oh yeah, my full-time job. So we'll see how it goes.

Do you have any deadlines set for yourself? How are they going?

13 comments:

  1. There's something about getting a schedule down on paper (or screen) that solidifies the goal and boosts the motivation. I've been setting deadlines for myself today -- for the whole year. I'm inspired as ever to get started!

    Thanks for the follow! Looking forward to reading more from you. And have a great vacation!

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  2. You can do it!!!

    It really is all about making a schedule. I was really stalling with my revisions because I was scared to actually maybe be 'finished,' but I had to stick to the schedule. The schedule has power. If I didn't set deadlines for myself, nothing would get done!

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  3. Thanks for the encouragement! I'm hoping that putting this on my blog will make me more accountable to myself. The only thing that's keeping me from finishing is just DOING IT! :)

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  4. This is a GREAT idea! Having it there, in a calendar, staring at you, is an awesome trick for keeping yourself accountable. Good luck!!

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  5. This is a great plan! Google calendar is very strict and bossy. Even if you leave the house and try to escape it will send reminders to your phone. It's like Daniel Day Lewis in Last of the Mohicans: it WILL find you! No matter how long it takes, no matter how far...

    Good luck!

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  6. Ha ha, whenever I see Google Calendar from now on, I'm going to picture Daniel Day Lewis.

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  7. Love your Revision Smackdown schedule! Revisions can be daunting! Let us know how it goes!

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  8. I'm avoiding deadlines. And revisions. And writing. Oh the shame!

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  9. Now that we've seen the timeline, we're going to hold you to it. Posting to a blog is like carving in stone. :)

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  10. I set a deadline for my YA contemporary novel. I'm thinking May for it to be done.

    On another note, doesn't it suck when the price of your home plummets? We bought in Cali during the time homes were ON SALE. We bought ours WAY cheaper than the norm. Now the prices show we could've bought at an even CHEAPER price. Bummer!

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  11. Haha, you all rock! Thanks so much for the comments--I will keep you updated next week to let you know if I make my deadline. Gotta do it now that I've got all of you AND Daniel Day Lewis looking over my shoulder! ;)

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  12. I've lived through never-ending renovations many times and I'm very thankful to not have any home improvement projects on my plate right now!

    I love your Google calendar--I know you'll meet your goals. Writing them down is half the battle!

    Enjoy your trip!

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  13. Thanks Jill! I'm so looking forward to once again having a landlord to call, rather than having to spring for a new AC condenser out of pocket!

    Thanks for following my blog! :)

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