Revision progress
Pages complete: 43%
Word count reduction: 11.4%
Man, revisions on Dwarves of Katie Elder feels like it’s going so slowly. I started on May 21, and two months later, I’m only 43% done.
I don’t know what it is, I don’t think I did anything different. I feel like I’m going to the thesaurus every second sentence. Maybe it’s got something to do with my first draft. I tried more of a “word vomit, just get the first draft done” kind of style where I didn’t fret about word choice. I figured anything that needed fixing could be fixed in post (as we say in the movie business). No lingering over a sentence or an anachronistic word, just write it for now, fix it in the second draft.
Now I gotta think about writing for the open door. And, especially in the beginning, nothing seemed right. Not one sentence. I hope I’m not changing things just to change them. I read a sentence and in my head, I hear a different way to put it that… could be better? I don’t know. I guess if my critiquing mind thought of it, it must be better.
I don’t think there’s anything particularly bad about the text. It’s a good story, good dialogue. It’s no blockbuster — it’s a character piece, not event or milieu or idea. I mean, it follows the outline, and it’s under 88,000 words right now, so there can’t be much wrong with pacing. I don’t know what’s making it so slow. Guess I’m going to have to dedicate some time on the weekends if I ever want to finish the draft this millennium.
