Editing My Way

“I have rewritten — often several times — every word I have ever published. My pencils outlast their erasers.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, Speak, Memory

One of the ways I edit best is to print out my work and mark it up in pencil. A pencil with a good point on it works best for me. Sharp points help because I add rewritten sentences into the small spaces. That’s my way. Finding my own method to edit has really helped me through this process. I still have some editing ahead of me, but it feels much less than 6 months ago. Now it’s feeling likes bite sizes instead of huge chunks.

Do you have an editing routine that works for you?

Friends and Family

Good friends and supportive family are the zest of life.

Life surely is richer with family and friends. I love hearing about their days, their come ups, all the news. It brings me so much joy. I’m not always able to get out and do things, but I sure do want to keep in touch. I also love the ones who me cheer them on. If I ever get poorer or richer, or stay the same, I just hope I still have my friends and family by my side.

Writing Check In

The editing process is moving along. I found some work I need to focus on, but it will probably be fixed in one or two writing sessions. I’ve gone through about 35k words, give or take, which is the first two parts. The last part is the screenplay, which I’m not fully satisfied with yet. But wow, I can’t believe how far I’ve come with this novel. So many elements I’m proud of. I’ve connected deeply with my characters and the worlds they live in. I’m not sure I’m ready to be finished yet.

How’s your writing coming along?

Spacey Fact

I’m taking astronomy and today I learned about the Astronomical Unit or AU. I didn’t pay attention to astronomy in high school, but I was very excited to take astronomy this semester. Today, my first day, was a bit of a challenge, but I look forward to learning more about the universe over the next several weeks. So, get this: 1 AU is equal to 93 million miles! Now that’s a long distance.

Away From the Daily Grind

Solitude is where you go to recharge your creative battery.

I was reminded today that some people have access to more solitude than others. If you are alone often, maybe you don’t need more time alone. Maybe you need to find more ways to connect with others. It’s important to sit down and be honest with yourself about how much solitude you need.

If you’re like me, with very little alone time, the first question I have to ask is, are you giving yourself time to sit alone and ponder the questions of the universe? I’m being silly, kinda. You don’t have to ponder the questions of the universe. You can think about nothing at all. The point is to get out of your daily routine and do something that allows you to be curious, adventurous, thoughtful, or whatever it is that you’re craving. The only rule is that it’s solitude, so you have to be intentional about spending this time alone.

Even if you are alone often, you should find a way to do something different from your daily grind once a week.

What do you think about solitude?

Journaling

I’ve been journaling every day now for several years. A couple of years ago, I put some of my journaling online using Google Forms. This week, I decided to switch over to Microsoft Forms. I learned that they updated their forms to allow live updates in an Excel spreadsheet. The form also automatically generates graphs that you can see without having to open the Excel spreadsheet. You can see your average hours of sleep, daily water intake, or whatever else you want to learn about yourself.

You can fill out the form right on your phone before bed to help with consistency. I think these forms are a great tool to keep tabs on your health, whether it’s spiritual, emotional, or physical. And they’re both free!

Have you tried using these forms at all?

Magic Carpet

“A well-composed book is a magic carpet on which we are wafted to a world that we cannot enter in any other way.” – Caroline Gordon

Writing is everything for me. To be honest, writing is everything for me, but that’s too vague to write about. Writing keeps me present, but it’s also a healthy way for me to escape. I can escape from everything: boredom, trauma, life, love, everything. It lifts me when I’m down. It brings me down when I’m up. “Magic carpet” is a great term for what writing is for me.

Writing Form

“The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.” – Robert Cormier

I’m a lover of the novel process above all forms of writing. I enjoy poetry very much, but it doesn’t hit the same way a novel does. At first, I was looking to get a novel pumped out, but now that I’m getting closer to the end of this one, I’m beginning to appreciate the pace. That being said, I do hope that I can learn a method to help me finish novels faster in the future.

Divergent

The way to loving life is to make it yours. And the keys to making it yours are your values. If you are out of alignment with your own personal values, then you are going to be miserable no matter what you do. Your values are personal to you. They can’t be values that are forced upon you. Let me just say this: It’s okay to respect the values of your parents, and they may have a huge influence on the things you value, buuuut at the end of the day, your values are going to be your own. And they are worth fighting for!

I do have to remind myself that it can feel divergent to fight for the things you value. Nonconformity allows room for that. When you conform to a community that doesn’t share the same values as you, you are divergent. I have two quotes. The first one from Benjamin Franklin says, “live a life worth writing about.” I think that’s just the way to do it! The second one is from the Christian Bible and says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

What would you give up to support your values?