Winding down from a nice long bout of inspiration. Unable, however, to polish up and finish.
I used to like this part–still do, but not when I seem to just be spinning my wheels. Why is it so hard to see the problems in your own work, and then to fix them? May be time to go back to basics on a serious level. Dug out my notes on a Contemporary Fiction course and will go through them all tonight. The story is just stuck and closed to me; I need to look at it with a new eye and give it one more try before it’s left behind me with all the others.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology
It’s especially diffiult for me when it’s fresh writing. I can barely get myself to read it, let alone edit, when it’s new. I have to let it rest a while, back my mind off it, let the words become distant, instead of fresh in my memory.
Unfortunately this isn’t taken into consideration when assigning deadlines, so I’m just grateful that I have none at the moment.
In proofreading classes we were always advised to let someone else proof our work — even if we were just the typists, not the authors. It’s very difficult to see your own typing errors, because your mind replaces an error with what you want to see. I think when writing, and fresh from inspiration, the same effect may take place.
Yes, I think I need a break from it. I’m at the point of, as you say, not wanting to even look at it any more.