I've spent the last few days retyping several chapters of my book so that I can go back and begin editing. Now I feel as though my brain has been mixed in a blender. In one sense, I feel like I've forgotten everything I learned from my first writer's group (on iVillage, all those years ago!). But then as I read over those early chapters, I'm stricken by how horrible they are!
I mean really! I can only hope that as I continue to type later chapters I will begin to see the growth I thought I'd experienced during that time. Somehow, in school, I never had a proper grammar class. Tenses, punctuation. Everything I know, I've learned by reading. But let's face it, writing instinctively, and knowing the rules are very different things. I really need to go back to middle school and LEARN the things my teachers assumed I already knew.
I also pulled out some books I'd purchased years ago. "The Complete Guide to Editing Your Fiction," "No More Rejections-50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript That Sells," "45 Master Characters - Mythic Models for Creating Original Characters," and "20 Master Plots - And How to Build Them." My goal is to start reading more on the craft. And in addition to doing and reading crits on my romance writers group, and re-entering the rest of the chapters on my wip, I am going to start a NEW WIP, something that will allow me to freely create without worrying about the rules.. I'm so NOT a rules girl!
Well, I'm off to Florida, where my next adventure begins!
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