The ability to meet deadlines, even self-imposed ones, is an important skill to develop in the writing business. I made a commitment to myself to complete a round of (with any luck, final) edits to "The House of Many Doors" by the time we left for central Asia in August.
Well, I'm pleased to say I completed them yesterday. A 3 week marathon edit that gave the story a net gain of 5,000 words, to a total of 60K.
There was no one breathing down my neck to get this done, and no external deadline, but I felt it important not to lose momentum on this project. There is a publisher willing/interested in reading the edited version. If nothing else, my attention to the edits in a timely manner shows I can follow through and that I am a professional.
This is a small world. People know one another and they talk/tweet/blog. Polishing your craft, avoiding temper tantrums, and getting work done appropriately are things you can completely control, even when you can't control much else in publishing-land.
No comments:
Post a Comment