Molasses

Posted on by

Lately things seem to be moving slowly, and sometimes not at all. Everything seems to be having glitches and setbacks and oddities. This post, for instance…this is take three because when I add the photo it messes up the alignment and puts all of the text above the image no matter what I do.

I almost didn’t write a post to check in for ROW80. I thought about just checking in on the Facebook page, but I haven’t posted here in a bit, so I really thought I should. And way past the time when the post should have been done, I am still fighting with my layout.

Writing is mostly writing practice and reading through downloads and things from classes I’ve taken, looking at books I have, stuff like that. I’m still trying to get a feel for how to approach a novel-length revision.

This is a lot different than a short story. I can hold an entire short story in my mind. Revisions involve making notes on the printed text and then retyping the story making changes as I go. Sometimes it just involves retyping because I can’t retype without changing things.

I’m not pushing myself to work on a schedule right now. I feel like I’m in a learning phase, so I’m just moseying along. I wish I didn’t keep hitting these weird sticky spots, though. I’d love it if things would just go smoothly, thank you very much and I hope there’s someone/thing out there listening!

4 thoughts on “Molasses”

  1. It’s winter…. Really. I keep thinking about how slowly things seem to be moving, even as the world demands we rush, Rush RUSH. And I feel like sleeping…

    It’s winter. Even molasses flow slower in the chill. Maybe it’s part of a natural life cycle, but… the modern world isn’t exactly a natural one.

    • You are so right! We have lost track of natural cycles but sometimes our bodies and minds still follow them, and then we think something is wrong when we’re really just going with the flow.

  2. Even Hemmingway commented on revising an ending 39 times — until he was satisfied. I like to think there are levels of revision . . . like thinking about the story (big picture), reading it through and looking at theme, arc, pacing. That kind of revision takes real discipline for me (to avoid dipping back down to the word level). And sometimes revision means slogging through at the chapter level, exactly as you describe. How do we know when a story is really ‘done’? Maybe that brings us back to Hemmingway’s quote — until we’re satisfied. Oh, and kudos to you for persevering with the layout. About moving slowly? Sometimes we don’t know how hard our minds are working when the words come slowly. Persevere!

Comments are closed.