I wonder if it's normal to think the stuff you wrote before and thought would be easy to work with is actually, well, just not that good? I'm revising a piece I used to think was nearly there, and suddenly it's not there at all. Before you think this is just the usual insecurities, let me say I've also revised a couple of other pieces over the past little while and I used to think they were just plain garbage. Now, I feel kind of good about them. I guess it's a kind of cosmic thing: you're given a little here and a little gets taken away from over there. Hrmph.
In honor of Bug, I am going to make a reverse schedule to handle the next two submission periods, for both of which I've been granted little extensions (really little, like from the Monday to the Friday).
May 1 Final versions of everything to reader, including approvals form.
April: Respond to advisor's comments and format thesis as required for bound version.
April 4 Penultimate versions of everything to advisor, including approvals form.
April 3 Finish revising "Are We There Yet?"
March 31 Start revising "Are We There Yet?"
March 25-31 Revise "The Narrow Border"
March 21-24 Revise "The Table"
March 17-21 Revise "My Mother's Kitchen"
March 10-16 Revise "Nothing Was Said"
March 7 Second submission to advisor.
March 7 Revised versions of "My Mother's Kitchen," "The Table," "Nothing Was Said," "The Narrow Border," and "Are We There Yet?" to advisor.
March 3-7 Re-read and tweak everything.
March 1-3 Revise "Are We There Yet?"
February 25-29 Revise "Nothing Was Said" and "The Narrow Border"
Put like that, it actually doesn't look too bad. Wish me luck. The first "leg" coincides with a snowboarding getaway (this Monday to Thursday). The plan: hit the slopes in the a.m., hit the keyboard after lunch, take the evening off.
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4 comments:
I had the same experience! Hester has me working on things in order of the pieces I thought needed the most work to those that need the least. Well, my third story in the bunch, which I thought was pretty together, has gone through such a major revision that I think there's maybe a few paragraphs that are exactly the same from one draft to the other. C'est la vie de writing, I guess. :)
PS--Love your titles! I'm especially drawn to My Mother's Kitchen and The Narrow Border. But they're all strong. Good job!
Looks like you've been off the blog too. I'll check back. Are you taking a break now you've got your thesis in?
I ran out of steam. Might get back to it now. Just finished a book review tonight. But I can take a bit of a break from writing and then back at it sometime next week. Students are about to hand in term papers and then their exam.
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