2026 has started...

...with me editing my second grown-up memoir for JanNo and I'm gonna put it through it's second edit in February and hopefully kick it into good enough to self-publish again in time for the changing of the seasons, then maybe a Picture Book or, if I've got an idea by then, another Early or Easy reader then back to a MG/YA book for NaNo26.

I've decided...

...that I'll still write in November and edit in January and reward myself with a J2O for every 5k I write/significantly edit as if NaNo and JanNo were still going but I won't pressure myself to complete the manuscript/edit or feel bad if I don't manage the whole thing within the month.

I'm also still a SCBWI member, it's just being moved about a bit in the British Isles and there will be more RAs and ARAs as well as people with specific roles within that so it'll hopefully still be the same as it was, just in smaller groups instead of for the entire country.

I think I've realised that I'm still not alone, I've just gotta reorganise my head for a while.

Opinions please!

Now that I've got a printer that actually works and I've finished the initial research of my NaNo/JanNo book (which, for the first time in my life, will NOT be a children's book) that I can't do anything else with until I've got the delivery in my hands on Wednesday, I'm pondering on another first - printing out each manuscript and editing it on paper instead of just on the computer, like I have done up to now.

I've got a Neurological disability which severely affects my memory and makes me easily confused (according to an A&E medical bod in my hospital notes back in 2003/2004) and I can't afford to waste paper and ink if it doesn't work for me, but I'm pondering on printing and editing each of my MSs on paper instead of exclusively on screen like I have done up to now.

My new printer apparently does double-sided printing which will save paper, but I've never even seen that on a printer and I don't wanna get so peed off with it that I throw the whole thing through the window in a fit of utter frustration, but I wanna give each MS the best chance to shine in front of future agents that I query.

Soo, what do you reckon I should do please?  Stick to just technology for editing and keeping my fingers crossed that I haven't made any major screw-ups, or do I print out and hope that it helps rather than hinders me?

I'm open to any and all ideas you wanna throw my way!

Aaand...

...relax.

That's every manuscript I've written in the last decade been edited into submission, so I can relax and prepare for NaNo22 for the rest of the month now.

I've just gotta find comp titles for the ones that I feel most confident about now, read (and review, of course) each of 'em and get 'em ready to go into my query email when I start subbing again.

I can officially get out of the editing headspace now, decompress and get ready for an intense November and January, ready to potentially start subbing again in February.

I've joined the Golden Egg Club now, so I'm gonna see what they think before I get too far ahead of myself and not start subbing until they've hopefully helped me to get my three strongest MSs into submittable standard.

Plan for tomorrow is to...

...crack on with editing my JanNo22 novel as soon as I've had my breakfast tomorrow, hopefully finish by the early evening (possibly without stopping for lunch 'cos it's only a MugShot) then celebrating the end of my editing year with a me-friendly tub of salted caramel ice cream <drool>

Just got...

...one manuscript left to edit and then that is officially my editing year completed.

The only manuscript is this years JanNo novel so that's had the least amount of time to sit and be forgotten out of all of them, so I'm gonna give it until Wednesday before I even start to think about editing it and it also helps that there are a couple of things out of the ordinary happening tomorrow and Tuesday so that'll hopefully help to clear my memory of the last manuscript too.

I really enjoyed today's novel though, so that's 3 older manuscripts that I feel most confident about - just gotta make sure the first three chapters on each of 'em sparkle more than they do atm.  The first three chapters are the usually the only opportunity you get to convince an agent then a publisher to take your writing on, but they are always my weakest chapters unfortunately.

Gonna go and have a look around Amazon for comp titles for this manuscript then start working my way through my "to be read" pile.

That's all my previous...

...manuscripts edited now, so I've just gotta whip my most recent NaNo and JanNo manuscripts into shape then that's my editing year completed 2 months early.

I'm hoping to knock my NaNo21 novel into shape tomorrow then my JanNo22 novel on Sunday with any luck.

Only got...

...less than 200k words left to edit before the end of the year then that's every single manuscript I've written edited and ready for submission after NaNo22 then JanNo23 are done and dusted.  

 

Got a sci-fi novel to tackle next that's 75k words and I can instantly see that it's another one that is in desperate need of a structural edit, so that'll be another loooong editing process, but the other two are my most recent manuscripts that I wanna save til last so that my eyes are as fresh as possible when I hit them with their first editing session.

 

Assuming that I manage to knock the final three manuscripts into submittable shape within the next month, I've just gotta find and invest in similar books so that I can read them and hopefully add them to my query for each manuscript.

 

I've archived my only trilogy 'cos it was all over the place and I put more emphasis on the mixed feedback I'd received from crit groups rather than my passion for the main characters and it wasn't my voice any more and the other one was a duplicate of one I'd previously written so I'm guessing the original one was written for NaNo and the duplicate for JanNo and I'd totally forgotten lol  I have no doubt that crit groups work for a lot of people and the right mix of authors can help rather than hinder the manuscript, they just aren't for me right now is all.  They might work for manuscripts that you genuinely need feedback on or that you don't feel so comfortably about, they just aren't for me atm unfortunately.

 

Maybe a well-matched crit partner rather than crit group should be what I'm looking for 'cos it's the first few chapters that are the weakest rather than the strongest for me unfortunately.

 

Aaand...

...that manuscript is finally finished with the editing, so I'm gonna celebrate with a drinking choccie and get back into reality for a few days before I tackle the last OYA novel then the ones I've written in the last 18 months can go through their first round of edits too.

The end is in sight now and I'm hoping to get all the editing sorted before the end of September so that I can prepare myself for NaNo22.

It's been a long, hard slog at times but I'm just about to turn the final corner in my editing marathon and I've re-found a couple of manuscripts that I'm especially proud of, so 2023 is gonna be my year.

That's all the...

...short stories edited, so I've just gotta edit the OYA MSs now, then the newest two manuscripts that I wrote for NaNo21 and JanNo22 then that's them all sorted and I can breathe and prepare myself for NaNo22.

With short stories, are they set out in the same way as other MSs in TNR12 with DL spacing please?  It's just that all bar one short story is TNR12 with SL spacing and the only one that's double was a competition entry, so I dunno if that was just a requirement of the entry or if all MSs are set out in exactly the same way.  Any thoughts on that would be fantastic please!

I'm in tears because...

...I've just finished editing the first OYA MS in the folder and I knew how it ended, just couldn't remember the details and it's just sent me over the edge.

It's brought back too many memories of what happened to us a couple of years ago but I originally wrote it 2½ years before my heart broke for the same reason IRL.  My heart is shattered all over again now, so I can focus on the next couple of weeks for personal and health reasons, then hopefully have taped my heart up enough to edit the last two OYA MSs in the folder, then I can start on editing my newest two MSs that I wrote for NaNo21 and JanNo22.

I'm gonna make myself a drinking chocolate, crack open a bar of me-friendly chocolate and sob my heart out until 6.30pm then gulp down my tears, stitch my heart back together and check my email for the first time today.

Wow... what an awesome...

...end to another great manuscript - it's even succeeded in making me a touch tearful and especially proud that every single one of those words came from me and no-one else.

That's...

...another great manuscript edited.  They are just small things 'cos I rapidly get into my stride and enjoy my creativity.

I'm gonna aim to edit one manuscript a day from tomorrow (Saturday) to Monday, then either a couple of short stories or a novella on Tuesday 'cos of our groceries being delivered in the morning, I'm not gonna be around for personal reasons on Wednesday, then straight back to it on Thursday.  I've got a busy couple of weeks after that for medical reasons, but then there is no stopping me again.

That's 4 in 3 days

Finished editing another novella just before I went out to make lunch - that's four novels/novella's and 3 short stories in 3 days which ain't too bad at all.  That's me finished for the day now though and I'll start editing again tomorrow.

Another novella sorted

Just finished editing a sci-fi novella and considering it was my first one ever, I don't think I did too bad a job of it.  Did I use enough science in it though?

That's another two manuscripts edited

I edited a novella yesterday and a YYA novel today and I'm on track for hopefully getting another one in the bag tomorrow and maybe even Sunday too.  I'm setting aside an entire day for each manuscript and giving myself every Wednesday off 'cos of my weekly virus scan and backups, but I'm hoping to get back into it now and hopefully finish off the YYA editing folder by the end of the month then start on the OYA at the beginning of September.

I can do this... I'm determined to get traditionally published and bag myself an agent before the end of next year.  I'm not gonna rush it, but grab every opportunity that comes my way.

It's been a week but...

...I've just finished editing today's manuscript and I'm especially proud of the last line in it - you'll have to wait until it's published before you see what that line says though  😉

Another good manuscript edited

This one needed more editing than the others purely because the formatting wasn't industry standard, but other than that t'was another manuscript that I'm fairly proud to call my own.

A few hours ago...

...I finished editing what I started yesterday afternoon.  Gonna give myself tomorrow and Wednesday off for personal reasons, but then get started on editing again on Thursday now that I'm back into the swing of things after just over a week off.

6 down now

I mis-counted yesterday, but I've definitely edited 6 MG manuscripts and the appropriate synopses now, so I'm gonna have the rest of the day off and start again tomorrow.  The first two that I edited have definitely been the best so far and I'm still feeling really proud of them.  I seem to be gaining confidence but losing my creativity now though, which is unfortunate.  I'm not about to give up on them, but I feel more confident querying with the first two right now.