Today was the day.

I got up on time and headed out to the airport to greet my old friend/new roommate.

I have to admit to getting a little emotional at seeing someone from back home in Vancouver.

I’m very thankful for the new Canada Line skytrain that links the YVR airport to the transit system. Having bussed out to the airport a few times with luggage, I can honestly say it’s a definite improvement.

I took along the Jeffery Deaver novel I bought myself at Christmas. I’d attempted to read it on my flight back to Vancouver after the holidays. I was only able to read a few pages when I had to put the book down. The writing was so horrid. Impossible, I tried to convince myself. This was a Lincoln Rhyme story, how could it be BAD?

Seriously, I love Jeffery Deaver. He’s one of my favourite authors… except for this book.

On the skytrain on my way out to meet the flight, I opened the first page and started again. I managed to get far enough into the story to be intrigued. I think I’ll be able to finish it this time but WOW, this one isn’t close to his usual standard. (I’ve even gone back to his other books and re-read parts, just to make sure it wasn’t my perception that had changed because off all the editing I’ve been doing lately.)

Nope, it’s just this one.. whew.

We got home without mishap and within 5 minutes of entering the house, my new roommate was on his computer, I was logged into mine and silence reigned supreme while we both caught up on emails, MSN and (in his case) texts.

Oh Yeah – this is going to be a beautiful roommate relationship

No more procrastination.
If I want my next novel up for sale in August, I have to finish my edits.

So what’s all this on my dining room table you ask.

Well the stuff spread out is my current novel Each chapter times 3, in some cases times 6 (depending on how many proofreaders have seen it). The stuff in the stack is from my first novel The Problem with Jake and it’s young adult rewrite The Trouble with Jake.

The week after next, I start a new pile, as my editing group and I go through my new novel – working title – “Kiere”.

Still confused about my dining room table?

Well, after I finish my first draft, I let my novel sit for a few months. Then I got through it chapter by chapter and write a point form list of what happens. I find this gives me the chance to pick out story flaws and repeated information. Since I’m a pantser, I often don’t find out much of the backstory until I’m well into the novel. One of my major tasks during editing is to bring that information forward so the reader understands where I’m taking them (because honestly, when I wrote the draft, I had no idea myself).

Once this is done I re-write my book based on my notes.

The I submit my chapters in 20 page chunks to my editing group. They tear apart my story, its logic, science, emotional connections, wording, descriptions, dialogue and everything else they can find to improve. The sessions are grueling and at the end I have three copies of my chapters with three different sets of notes. That explains the mess on my table.

Now I sort through all the comments, decide which ones work and which ones don’t and incorporate the ones I need to. I figure it will take me at least a few days working full time to complete this edit before I send my manuscript off to another set of readers for their input.

Seriously, writing the book is the easy part!

A few of my friends have been having this same problem lately. I’m kind of glad because it means that I’m not the only one, but on the other hand, this is becoming an issue.

How do you balance writing a new piece with editing an old.

I’d love to have the freedom to write without having to worry about editing. But if I want to put out 2-3 books a year, that’s not possible. I have to be constantly writing new material … and constantly editing older stuff to keep the publication cycle going.

So I’ll throw my question out to the interwebs – how do you balance writing and editing without killing your creativity?

Hmmm – I gues I haven’t posted in a few days.

This time I have a good excuse. Well…. sort of. No, it’s a good excuse.

It was my turn to submit something for our editing group. I had to rewrite the end of the novel I’ve been editing. When I sent my first ending to the group they called me out for it. (You might remember me blogging about how I’d written the entire novel from Hillary’s point of view and then, after she screwed up, everyone went away to fix the problem and came back to tell her about it

So, while the ending was beautiful and seriously romantic, it sucked.

Yes, it tied up all the loose ends but it still sucked.

So it took me two complete sessions to write the new ending. Hillary, is now a key player in the climax and if it wasn’t for her quick thinking and fearlessness all would have been lost.

YES – SUCCESS – This time the heroine acts like a heroine and saves the day.

The sad part is that I have been trying to re-write this ending for a few weeks. It finally came down to the wire. It was Thursday night and I had written 1000 words and barely scratched the surface of what I had to do.

Friday was do or die day. I went into NaNo mode.

Out of respect for my writing group’s time, I had to get my piece to them by Friday night at the latest. So Friday, I dug in. I finished, did a brief edit and sent it off at 10:17pm. Total count for Thursday and Friday’s writing frenzy – 6399 words (plus a 23 word – ‘where-we-left-off’)

Sooo, why has it taken me so long to catch-up on my blog?

Saturday was an ‘away from the computer’ day. I had a Marketing Dangerously seminar out in Langley followed by a BBQ at my friend Rob’s place in Surrey. Sunday was my usual Toasted Cheese Sunday Brunch Writing Prompts morning, followed by an afternoon of fixing websites, talking to a potential new client, Skyping with my parents and recently relocated brother back East then our for dinner with friends. All interwoven with making arrangements with my new roommate.

YES – I’m getting a roommate

One of my best friends still back East is moving to Vancouver. I’ve very excited. He’ll be here in three weeks. It’s going to be so much fun having him around.

My apologies in advance, I’m a little ticked off.

A very good friend of mine came to me today upset. She’d been called out by a mutual acquaintance and made to feel about two inches tall.

As she retold the conversation I recognized a lot of the stuff “someone” had said about her. That “someone” was me, only the context was twisted in such a way that the meaning was completely reversed.

Being quoted is flattering, being deliberately misquoted to hurt someone is definitely not cool.

And I’m not talking a teenager or young adult here, The mis-quoter is old enough to be a grandparent. Needless to say I’m extremely disappointed in this person and more than a little aghast at the entire scenario.

One of my favourite sayings is:
If something I say can be taken two ways and one hurts, I meant it the other way.

When my friend found out it was me who had been quoted, her shoulders immediately relaxed and she smiled. “Oh, well that puts and entirely different spin on it if you said it.” It took less that three seconds to make her feel better and grow back to her full height.

For this I am eternally grateful.

So please, if you’re going to quote someone, use your quotes for good not evil!