I find myself in a most unexpected problem.
Because I’ve been sick, I haven’t had the brain power for hard revision, so Revision Xibalba is very much behind where I wanted to be by mid-month. I’ve also been reading more blogs and groups to pass the time, which has led me to stumble across several submission calls.
Tempting ones.
Saying no has never been one of my strengths, nor is balance. I’d really like to do all three of these submissions. (One is already finished, at least the first draft; the other two, I don’t even have ideas for. Yet!) But I can’t do both of these others and get the Mayan fantasy revised like I wanted, nor finish worldbuilding and plotting the other idea I had.
Something’s gotta go. And I don’t wanna.
And yes, at the root of this dilemma is a reluctance to work on the Mayan story. It’s a hard revision. I’m juggling more POV threads than I’ve ever attempted before. I also realized that I’ve got a serious flaw at the beginning. (What helped point this out was Debra Dixon’s GMC — although I knew it, I’d chosen to ignore it, thinking I could work around the problem. But I really can’t.) I need to eliminate one rather useless POV, or at least rewrite the beginning entirely into Ruin’s POV and put this other one in later.
As I said, some hard decisions that have significant impact on the story. I’m torn between finishing this draft, and going back to fix the beginning. I’ve decided to continue forward progress, but that beginning is nagging me like a sore tooth. I’d hoped to send out a few queries once I’m close to the end of the revision, but I can’t do that if the opening is wrong.
It’s really time to buckle down, press my nose to the grindstone, suck it up, and just do it. The Mayan story is my highest priority. So I committed. So I shall do. Lord help me if I get solid ideas for the other two temptations. One, I think I could probably handle. Not both.
Aw. Yuck. Good luck getting it all straightened out. I know what you mean about being committed – I’d probably have dropped the Mayan by now, but I’m glad you haven’t. (Also – which subs calls? I’m curious.)
The two I haven’t started yet are listed at Samhain here. I have a certain fondness for their antho calls, because that’s what led me to write Survive My Fire!
Love love love Dixon’s GMC. It really helped me get a handle on some problems I was having. Focus on how good finishing the Mayan’s going to feel. It’s a unique and interesting premise and you need to do it justice. Stick with it J!
Now, you don’t want me to turn up at your doorstep with tranquilizer gun in hand, do you?
I imagine you’ll find it more worthwhile in the long run to stick with the Mayan story. Revision is hard, which makes new and shiny projects all that more tempting. Still, it’s a part of writing and it can’t be ignored. Trust me. I’ve tried!
Kait, I pickd it up after I saw you blog about it back around Christmas!
Pretty please, May, do so?? Ha. Just don’t bring the severed hands.
Krista, revision is definitely hard. This is one of the hardest I’ve ever done. But I did persevere.
I’ve worked up a worksheet based on her concepts to sort of use on every scene. It’s intended for me to use in the plotting phase before I actually get to writing, but there’s a second phase that’s more detailed kinds of trouble shooting questions for after a scene is already written. Want it?