Victoria Advocate, A Different Perspective
Ahhhhh, I can relate to the old phrase, “best laid plans.” Anyone else out there in reader land who’s experienced my frustration?
I use a planner. I don’t deliberately ignore responsibilities or people who need my attention … though all bets are off when I go to HEB. I get so single-minded about my grocery list, the world could burn down and me not know it.
Filling my planner in for the week usually happens on Sunday, and last week was no exception. I planned to continue writing Book 4 of my novel series. I’ve got about twenty-five thousand words in, but the finished product clocks in at eighty thousand. Yeah, got a ways to go. And it’s only the first draft.
Not nervous about it. Not anxious at all.
Then, life happened. On Monday morning, I glimpsed an email from my content editor that could only mean one thing—she had finished her edit of Book 3, which releases in September, and needs my corrections done in three weeks.
So much for my plans to work on Book 4.
I’m happy that all the scenes in Book 3 worked, since a major rule of thumb is that a scene HAS to move the story along. Inclusion is not guaranteed just because it’s pretty—or funny—or for any other reason. Also, I was pleased with only two comments where my writing wasn’t clear enough. Yeah. That still happens.
It helps that Book 3 is a novella with a forty thousand word count instead of eighty thousand. Less to mess up. However, with the okay on scenes and clarity issues, that leaves the boring, super-tedious editing chores.
Currently, I’m working on removing a multitude of “ands” from the MS. Ugh. I decided a strategy was the way to tackle it, lest I obsess and try to fix every “and” in the story. I settled on a loose rule of three to four “ands” to a page. The necessary ones, I leave. Still, there are clusters of “ands” on some pages, most of which need to be deleted. If only it were possible to delete the “ands” and not have to fiddle with the rest of the sentence!
To make matters worse, “and” is not the only word I overuse. She sent a list of other offenders. Sigh. Good thing our pastor’s sermon this week focused around diligence, because it’s certainly tempting to do less than my best with boring details. Except, as my editor is fond of saying: she only wants to make “good” the best it can be.
That’s why I keep plugging away at the “ands,” and work at not freaking out about a book that still needs to be written. Getting better at it—the not-freaking-out part, but I suspect improvement is an ongoing task.
Is there an area of your life that requires extra diligence on your part? The Bible says for us to “Watch over our hearts with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.” Proverbs 4:23, NAS. That goes hand in hand with not allowing anxiety or any other negative emotion, such as anger, resentment, or bitterness, weigh our heart down.
If one of those bad dudes has moved in, it’s squatting where it doesn’t belong. Ask the Lord to help, then do your part. Refuse to dwell on it. If it sneaks back in, kick it out again. Redirect your thinking. Sounds exhausting, especially if it’s been in residence for a while. However, it’s amazing how much better life will be if you don’t let an emotional bully cloud your thinking.
“Let us not be lagging behind in diligence, but be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.” Romans 12:11, NAS.