I've heard from three persons at the publishers. The publisher stated I would hear back no later than 45 days. My editor just wrote I'll hear something by next Tuesday.
Right now I'm freaking out. I sit down to write and my mind goes off on tangents and I can't concentrate.
My question to my published friends is this - How do you structure your time to get your manuscript done? Is there any tried-and-true method or do I need to feel my way through this?
There's been a shift in the story line, and I've been working to make it seamless. However, I'm beginning to question it even if it's the right direction to move in. I guess I just have to have the faith in myself that my friends have in me. This is, after all, my dream.
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Hi, Patti.
ReplyDeletestructuring your time. I think the best person to answer is Kathryn Shay as she is, besides being the most prolific of all of us, the most experienced at balancing so many balls for so many years [spouse/2 kids/job outside the home/ the home].
Knowing you work outside the home and have committments to which you are faithful, I would suggest purchasing one of those small pocket calendars which are the size of a checkbook. Using colored markers or high-lighters, mark out the 'balls' you must juggle; the ones you can bobble or reschedule either to a different time of day or to a different day of the week. Look at what you have left as your 'new job'.
that's waht it is, kid. a new job
kat
Hi Patti.
ReplyDeleteI feel for you! Although I'm not published (yet!) I do understand what you're going through. Every time my agent would call to talk to me about changes to my manuscript, I'd go into a panic thinking, "I can't do that! How am I going to make that happen?" And then I'd be stuck, held back by fear of change. I'd work in a scene that hadn't previously been there and, like you, wonder if I made the right decision.
My only advice I have is to take it to a trusted member of your critique group and see if the change makes sense to them. You are too close to the story. You won't see the problems as well as a reader will.
There is no one way to structure time to get the manuscript done, in my opinion. I tend to do the most housework when something is due (Me? Procrastinate? Never!) But it frees up my mind, and I can think about my story without having to feel pressured by that blinking cursor.
Good luck!