Editing hell

Stuck – Stuck – Oh Yeah, Stuck!

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Hey guys, welcome back and welcome to March! We’ve made it through the dredges of the Winter months and Spring is on the horizon. Of course there is still lots of unpredictable weather ahead and I’m fine with it. I love a good stretch of dark, rainy weather. But then, I’m a vampire and am not too fond of sunlight.

Anywhooooo….been trudging along with stuff and trying to find the humor in the everyday nonsense that is life. After all, if we do not do this, we would spontaneously combust and really, who has the time for that?

The one area where my humor is currently lacking is my book. No not in the content, after all, I have it pegged as a romcom (albeit with some serious undertones), but with the execution. I mentioned in previous posts that I’ve found a solution to my word cutting issue. Well, that has since gone out the window.

My solution so far this week has been to try and clear my head a bit. Watch more meditation and ASMR videos (yes, I love ASMR, so relaxing) and recently I’ve found someone on YouTube who deals with art therapy. Using different art techniques to focus on the task at hand to clear your mind up for other things. I love this idea as I used to create things to do just that. Refocus my energy to open myself up to new ideas.

I do this a lot while I’m making dinner or in the shower or even reading. Suddenly an idea comes to me and it’s the eureka moment I crave. I’ve thought of many plot lines while doing other things. In fact, over the weekend I came up with another story idea and had to get it out of my head. I ended up writing two chapters of it which actually felt great as I’ve greatly missed the writing part of writing. However, it didn’t help me with the task at hand.

Anyway, when I got into this rut of just reading my manuscript over and over and not coming up with something that would help me, having this artist woman say exactly what I used to say to myself? It was like a mini eureka moment. I mean, how have I not been doing this? It’s my pattern after all! When I used to make jewelry, I’d come up with so many ideas for other things. When I design a new card or sticker or bookmark for my creative business, I become clear headed about life stuff. However, sometimes it takes an outsider to give you that virtual slap against your head to jiggle your brain into action. Now I just need to find that trigger that lets me know how to get from point A to point B in my book.

In the meantime, I’ve been revisiting some other small business owners’ socials that I’ve followed for a while to learn how to create new products and how to integrate certain things into the shops that I have now. I’m thinking that this incredible bout of editor’s block may end up helping me in other ways. I just really, REALLY want to finish this book.

If you’ve been following me, you know of my passion for this work of mine. I love it. I really do. And I think the fact that my mind won’t get off the endgame of it…having it published and in the readers’ hands…is now more of a distraction than motivation. As someone who has trouble with focus, I need to get back to the motivation of it.

So here I am, hoping that by writing this post and getting my worries out into the universe, my mind will clear up even more and I will suddenly get the revelation that I so greatly need. Because I know it’s there. I can see it off in the distance waiting for me. Now I just need to figure out the best way to find it.

And that is where I will leave you for today. I know that most posts, I try to leave you with a bit of motivation. I really strive for that and do hope you got something from this post as a whole. However, every now and then, a ramble such as this just needs to be let out and I thank you for being here to read these ramblings.

Until next time…cheers!

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To follow me on social including my #booktok, click: HERE

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To find my creative shops, click: HERE

(You’ll also find my StuffWeFind link to my eBay listings on there as well where I sell vintage and estate jewelry.)

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If you’d like to help support this site, you can shop though any of the Amazon links, you find around here or head to my Ko-Fi (click logo on the page) click: HERE

Blizzard – Edits – Learning on TikTok

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Photo credit: ME!

Hey guys, welcome back! So since the last time I was here with you all, we got a ‘little’ snow. I’m sure you’ve heard by now that we in the Northeast US were inundated with a bit of flakeage. I gotta say, it was really something to watch.

I’m a snow person. I really am. My inner kid still looks to see if there will be school the next day and a huge part of me wishes I could go out and play in it. Instead, I made a big cup of cocoa and watched overnight as the winds picked up and the snow got to white out conditions…and I enjoyed every damned minute of it. Part of it was that the Olympics were over and I had nothing to watch anymore, so I dove deep into the intensity of the storm. Nature is incredible and should be respected and watching this storm? Reminded me of just that.

As fierce as the winds of that storm were, when we received even more snow yesterday, it was a much different type. Heavy but quiet. The kind that highlights every tree branch making the outdoors look like an Ansel Adam’s black and white photograph, creating light and shadows where there were none before.

One of my favorite things about snow is the quiet it creates. Nature’s own insulation from the noise of life. The only sound you hear are the flakes landing onto each other creating a blanket of silence. It is peaceful. It is somehow warm despite the cold. It is a time to stop and reflect and look at the new vision it has created…a wonderland of white that reminds us that nature…is…beautiful.

Having said all of that, while kids had the days off because of the weather, I was here toiling away at my manuscript. I approached it a bit differently this time after learning a few things from an editor I follow on TikTok.

Let me just say this, I love TikTok. I know many think it’s just a place for silly dance challenges, crazy people doing crazy things for attention and of course, there is a part of it that is like that. However, there are SO many other ways to use the platform.

As a former social media specialist, I would have killed to have this platform available when I was working. I didn’t like doing videos back then. As someone who doesn’t like to be on camera herself, I felt limited. However, it is such a different atmosphere now, that you don’t need to be visible and the creativity of TikTok alone is endless.

I started using it with my small businesses as a free way to promote my products, send out updates and better yet, meet other small business owners. I learned so much from these folks, I really did. When I decided to start a creative business (stickers, cards, bookmarks, clothing, etc) I looked to these folks both on TikTok and YouTube to find the best ways to start out with little money. To find out where to get some things made and find discounts share and swap tips and we even buy from each other.

When I began getting deeply serious about my writing, I decided to start a #booktok. For those of you who don’t know, booktok is a subdivision of sorts of the main platform dedicated to readers and writers alike.

From the reader standpoint, I’ve discovered new authors to read, popular books I might be interested in (as I’m always looking out to add to my TBR) and then came the best discovery of all…author profiles.

I’ve connected with other authors, both beginning and established, as well as publishers and editors. One of the best things about finding other authors from around the world? Finding out that many of the struggles we face? Universal. We are not alone in doing the crazy things we do, including having astronomical word counts.

Recently after posting a video of my own with my current read, my feed brought up an editor I honestly forgot I was following. She shares quick tips that are so damned helpful, it’s like taking a master class for free. When this particular tip played, I watched it several times to let it sink in. I then went to my own book and started from the beginning again.

That one fast tip helped me cut almost 5000 more words from the first 20 chapters alone! Something so simple yet I wasn’t seeing it. Sometimes, that’s what we need whether we realize it or not. Another perspective to push you in the right direction.

I’ve read my own manuscript upwards of a dozen times. I get lost in the story instead of the cuts I’m supposed to be making so often, I’m convinced this is one of the reasons it is taking me so much longer to figure out how to get this done. This one editing tip out of hundreds I’ve watched both by her and others, woke me up. Opened my eyes to something I was doing over and over again and never even realized it.

Once I paid attention to how I was saying something in dialogue or description, it clicked. I was yelling at the screen about how often I do this. How there is no need for over describing a scene, or explaining laughter when the reader should experience it for themselves. As someone with an editing background herself, I should be more than aware of this. Again, perspective.

After the first few cuts, it got so much easier. I was a madwoman on a mission. I was going through the chapters much faster cutting this, cutting that and soon the word counts were getting lower. Make no mistake, I still have hundreds of thousands to get rid of, or move to the sequel, but to see the progress move along this much faster than it has been in a while? The relief is real.

Now I’m not saying the book will be ready to submit next week. TONS of work still left to go. But at least I have a new starting point of how to do my edits. And because of this, I’ve also been rewriting scenes that are making the book take shape in a new way. Adding more depth to the characters that should have been acknowledged long ago while also decreasing the word count.

So I say, if you think that TikTok is just a doom scrolling time waster? Sure. It can be that. I’ve certainly spent hours escaping life watching cute animals and other stuff as well. It can be a fun app. But there is so much more to it and learning from others and supporting one another? These are the added bonuses of social media in any form. I am personally grateful to those I have learned from and look forward to more lessons that will help me get out of my own head and make the progress I know I can make.

And that is where I will leave you for today. Thanks for being here and I hope some of this resonated with you! Until next time…cheers!

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If you’d like to follow me on social, including my #booktok, click: HERE

Btw, you can find both my social links as well as my linktree shop in that link.

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If you’d like to see what my small businesses are about? Click: HERE

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If you’d like to help support this site, you can click the product links around the site or the Ko-Fi logo. Or you can click: HERE

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If you’ve made it this far, I thank you! It means so much that you spend some of your time here with me. Stay safe and warm folks! ⛄️

Trying – Sleeping – Random Inspiration

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Photo credit: Yamu_Jay on Pixabay

Hey guys, welcome back. I know, I know, I’ve already missed a week and it’s only the first two weeks of the new year. Well, life is crazy stuff sometimes and that is what it is for me right now.

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that I’ve been sick for many months. Well, it continues and right now, we are still trying to figure out what is going on. I’ve had more dr appointments and this week I’ve got more tests to get. In the meantime, my sleep schedule is even more erratic that it already was. I slept through the holidays, literally. I slept all Christmas Day and New Year’s days and then three days after, only being up for a few hours here and there. I slept almost this entire past weekend and trying to stay awake is a real fight. However, I’m still here!

With all of this being said, I’m trying so hard to stay focused on my book. The waking hours I do have, I dedicate to both reading and editing my manuscript. (And streaming Brooklyn Nine-Nine, because the show makes me laugh out loud.)

As dedicated as I’ve been, I actually went days without touching the book. That doesn’t happen and it bothers me that it did. I couldn’t focus, I couldn’t open it up to read it, I just couldn’t go near it. When I can’t work on it? That’s when I know that I can officially say, I’m not well.

I am happy to say though that the time I have put into it? I’ve cut almost 4000 more words! I’ve been cutting full pages, full paragraphs and reworking/rewriting the story so that it will embrace the time of year I’ve switched it to which has been fun.

I’m still trying desperately hard to figure out just how to keep so much of what I’ve written, without having to break this particular origin story in two. I’ve talked about making this a series in the past, but I really want a lot of what is already done to be a part of this first book. The stress I’m putting myself through about it though, needs to stop. Can’t afford that right now. So as I get through this latest read through and cut and cut and cut, I remind myself that yes, I can indeed put some of this into it’s sequel and to calm the hell down. (I yell at myself a lot when I’m working…sometimes I wonder what my neighbors think is going on over here.)

I think one of the best things I’ve done to help the editing process along has been taking it ten chapters at a time. Honestly, it gives me such a sense of accomplishment when I’m done with a set of ten and seeing just how much I’ve cut from them. How much I’ve changed them. Doing it all as a full document was making it rather overwhelming. Doing it in stages? Well, I should have been doing it this way all along!

Someone on a video I watched on YouTube once said, ‘if you are feeling overwhelmed by a task, try breaking it down into small pieces.’ Well damned if they weren’t right about that! I couldn’t recommend this process more. This is my second time going through the book doing the ten at a time method and it has helped tremendously and I’ll continue to do it this way until I get it just the way I want it.

Whether it’s a video on YouTube or talking to a friend, attending a seminar or hell, watching a tv show you like, advice can come from where you least expect it. The video I watched? Had absolutely nothing to do with processes or writing. It was just a random sentence that popped up and I latched onto it. Always keep your eyes and ears open, for inspiration can come from anywhere! (Including your friendly neighborhood blogger.) 😬

And that is where I will leave you today. I hope you got something out of this post!

Until next time folks…cheers!!!

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To follow me on social, including #booktok and to shop my linktree and Dahsery shops: linktr.ee/promosocially

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Want to start journaling this year? I’ve designed several blank journals that are on Amazon. You can find the graphic link here on the site, or hit up my linktree that houses my shops with thousands of items with my designs on them: linktr.ee/stuffwemade

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If you’ve made it this far, I thank you so much! See you soon. 😊

December – Milestone – So Distracted

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Hey guys, welcome back! Hope everyone who celebrated had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was nice and quiet and I think it was the most food I’ve eaten in months. (And I’m ok with that.)

Now here we are in December and there is just so much going on. I’ve been in full holiday shopping mode while trying to create some new things for one of my online shops (and failing miserably) as well as still trying like hell to shake the illness that has been plaguing me since August.

I’m also a huge holiday movie and tv specials kind of girl. Even as a kid, I couldn’t wait to get a tv guide and a highlighter and search for every version of a Christmas Carol and crazy animated special being shown on tv. These days, I look online every single day and make a list (check it twice) and then see what I can squeeze in to watch when I can. As I’ve said many times here, I’m a five year old in a very much not five year old body and this time of the year really brings it out in me. It’s the stuff like this that keeps the kid in me alive though. I still sing to the Grinch and Heat Miser and all the fun shows they only show this time of the year.

I also went a little crazy between Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. I’m a shopaholic at heart and during this festive season, I go nuts. Yes I got some books for myself, the sales were just too good!) Hopefully everyone will like what I’ve gotten and that my inner Santa has worked its magic.

All of this is to say…I’ve been distracted as hell from working properly on my book. I mean, I still have been putting the hours in, I really have. However, I’ve been fading much earlier while working and most of that though is due to the fact that I just haven’t been feeling well. Plus, the meds and the fevers have me a little loopy. Not that there is much of a difference than how I normally am, you can ask anyone who knows me about this. lol

I am, however, proud to say that I have hit a major milestone of words cut so far. Ready? I’ve cut just over 20,000 words! Ok so I still have hundreds of thousands to go, but still, this is a good chunk taken out and it is definitely a good start.

I am nowhere near the internal deadline I put in place for myself and that is bumming me out. But seeing this number appear tonight was the big shot of confidence that I needed. Just knowing that I hit that and that it’s truly showing just how hard I’ve been working? Huge. Really, really huge. So as distracted as I’ve been, I really am seeing the progress that I’ve been making. For someone like myself, this is so important.

This book has been an even larger undertaking than I ever imagined. I knew of course it would be the hardest work I’ve ever done. I’m not blind to that. But when I saw how high my word count was and what I’d need to cut in order to submit it, my old self would have given up and started work on a new one. I’m completely dedicated to this manuscript. It invades my thoughts 24/7, including my sleep time. Seeing actual proof that I’ve been making this dent has me excited knowing that yes, I CAN do this! I WILL do this! I will also get multiple books out of this story and I think knowing that, is a big bonus that is also keeping me going.

Even now with the holiday season upon us and all of life’s distractions, this work is keeping me going. And I truly mean that. Every couple of days, it feels like labor, can’t lie about that. Again, I think it’s just because I haven’t been feeling well. All that aside, once I sit and really get into it every night, I know it’s where I’m supposed to be and what I’m supposed to be doing. To keep it festive, I got myself holiday themed keys for my keyboard to keep me on track because that’s the kind of grown up I am!

And that is where I will leave you today.

Thanks so much for being here and please remember, if you’d like to help support my website and get some holiday shopping done? You can do so by clicking on one of the links around the site as well as the links below. Unfortunately, text links here are NOT underlined so be sure to hover over links if you’re interested in something. Thanks for understanding.

Until next time all…cheers!

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To follow me on social, including my #booktok (I’m on booktok the most these days) as well as shopping site relevant ideas, click: HERE

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To shop products with my designs, from home decor to tshirts to stickers and pretty much everything in between, click: HERE

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To see my vintage and estate jewelry listings on eBay, click: HERE

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For book recommendations, check out the On the Bookshelf pages here on the site. See site menu.

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You can find some links in the sidebars here on the site for my blank journals, shops and my Ko-Fi link as well, if you’d like to help support the site a little differently.

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If you’ve made it this far, thank you SO much and I’m done pushing my shops for now. 😉See you soon! 🥰

Busy – Rewrites – Heat Miser

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Want to hear the song? Click HERE

Hey guys, welcome back! Once again I must apologize to you for being MIA over this last week, week and a half. I assure you, I haven’t gone anywhere. Just putting in a ton of time on my work as well as gearing up for the holiday season.

It’s Thanksgiving week here in the states and while that used to mean the ‘official’ start of the holiday season, these days it seems, we can now start to decorate whenever we feel like it…and I’m on board with this 100%.

When I was a kid, I couldn’t wait to watch the parade on Turkey Day. It was during the airing of it that the airing of seasonal commercials would begin. Actually, they’d start halfway through the parade. Seriously. As the hours passed, we’d begin to see an ad here, another there (the M&M’s meeting Santa was big for being the first one) and I’d be so excited! To this day, I still start to look for the tv listings to see when the movies and specials are starting to appear…I’m a five year old in a very not five year old body during the Christmas season. And yes, I sat here the other night watching both the original Grinch and Year Without a Santa Claus, (aka. Heat Miser) and singing to every single song. 

All that aside, I’ve been working so damned hard on this manuscript to get it done. Every time I think I have a handle on which way it’s going, I think of something new. I’ve been rewriting several chapters from the point of view of the MMC and I have to say, I really like writing for him. I didn’t think I could write from the male perspective, but it turns out, I can! So I’ve been flipping some chapters around to show his side of things and by doing that, my word count is getting considerably lower.

The other night it also occurred to me, and maybe it’s because of the time of year we are in and the books I’ve been ordering for myself these days, but I think I’m going to switch things up a bit. I make several references now to the characters loving fall and Christmas so I’m thinking that instead of this book taking place earlier in the year, Spring/Summer, I should move it to Fall/Winter. Why not right? Stop making the references and have it set during my own favorite time! Of course doing this is going to take considerable reworking and right now, I’m fine with that.

I think my fellow writers will understand this…I HATE EDITING! Ok, let me rephrase that…I hate editing my OWN work. I used to love editing others, can’t lie about that. But really, I miss the writing so much. I still have so many ideas for these characters and quite frankly, after seven+ rereads and doing so many cuts, etc, I want to go back to the writing, the creating, the making their lives what I think they could be. Unfortunately for me, the writing is where I get over enthusiastic and end up with hundreds of thousands of words that then need to be what???? Edited and cut! (It really is a vicious cycle.)

I’ve read so many Fall and holiday themed books over the last year, I think my mindset is with them as well. So I’ve decided not to fight it any longer. Besides, if I switch the book to this particular time of the year, it can become someone’s new ‘cozy’ read for next year (fingers crossed) and in the long run, some of what I’ve already written will really make a little more sense. At least in my mind it will. (Work with me here.)

In a nutshell, I’ve been losing my mind about all of this. In my head, the book is done. It’s ready to go. It’s ready to submit. And yet, I also know that I’m freaking delusional and it needs SO much work. So…much…work.

So here I am. Trying to get this done, still watching pieces of Hamilton every single night and wishing I could speak with Lin-Manuel Miranda and ask for his help. (WWLMM is my mantra now) and getting into the holiday spirit all while still fighting whatever illness I’ve had since August. However, neglecting this blog was never supposed to be a part of it and for that, I’m sorry. Being here is what is supposed to keep me on track, helps me to work through issues and also touch base with you all and hope you are doing well. I very much hope to do better.

And that is where I will leave you for today. I appreciate you guys so much and thank you for hanging in there with me!

If you are celebrating this week, I hope you have a great turkey day. As a vegetarian myself, I’ll be saving lots of room for apple pie because that’s how I roll. Also, and this is a very shameless plug…with ‘black Friday’ deals all over the place, if you are looking to start your shopping, I hope you’ll check out the links scattered all around the site. I’ll post more below for you to see and every purchase made though my site helps to support it and greatly appreciated. 

Thanks again for being here and let’s get the holidays started!

Until next time…cheers!!

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If you’d like to follow me on social, including my #booktok: linktr.ee/promosocially there is also my linktree shop inside that link besides my other shops.

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For items with my designs on them, you can find my other shops here: linktr.ee/stuffwemade

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Looking for vintage and estate jewelry? I’m on eBay as well! (Have been since 1998!): linktr.ee/stuffwefind

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Book recommendations can be found on this site…check out the On the Bookshelf pages in my site menu.

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If you’d like to help support the site without shopping, you can hit my Ko-Fi link (see logo on the site) or click HERE

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If you’ve made it this far, I thank you and remember…calories don’t count on holidays so go crazy! 😉