Kaitlin – I used to have this problem, myself. And then I participated in NaNoWriMo, a sort of marathon for writers. When you’re trying to write 50k words in a month, you don’t have time to listen to your inner editor. So try that. Have a word count goal and stick to it. Tell someone else about your goal so it’s public knowledge and you’ll feel guilty/embarrassed if you don’t follow through.

The fact is you can’t edit if you don’t know the entire story. What you’re doing is revising. You’re tweaking something that may not make it to the final product. Why is this bad? 1) It slows your progress. 2) You don’t have the entire product there to make a decision about whether this particular scene adds or detracts from the whole.

Gillian – It’s amazing how printing your work will expose simple grammatical errors, plot holes, etc. Glad to have you here!

Jess – You sound like you’ve figured out exactly what works for you, which often only comes from writing for a long time/professionally. You’re taking a break from your work, but you’re moving on to something else, which is excellent. Keep writing!

Kaitlin – I used to have this problem, myself. And then I participated in NaNoWriMo, a sort of marathon for writers. When you're trying to write 50k words in a month, you don't have time to listen to your inner editor. So try that. Have a word count goal and stick to it. Tell someone else about your goal so it's public knowledge and you'll feel guilty/embarrassed if you don't follow through.

The fact is you can't edit if you don't know the entire story. What you're doing is revising. You're tweaking something that may not make it to the final product. Why is this bad? 1) It slows your progress. 2) You don't have the entire product there to make a decision about whether this particular scene adds or detracts from the whole.

Gillian – It's amazing how printing your work will expose simple grammatical errors, plot holes, etc. Glad to have you here!

Jess – You sound like you've figured out exactly what works for you, which often only comes from writing for a long time/professionally. You're taking a break from your work, but you're moving on to something else, which is excellent. Keep writing!

What I do is spend a week or two starting a new manuscript, at least 10k, then I jump into edits for, oh, another two or three months. That works well for me because the shift to a new story gives me the space that a month would otherwise do, and then when I’m done editing, I don’t have the vertigo of starting over – I can just pick up with the new manuscript.

I like to streamline, and I’m impatient as all get out. So… this method works for me, but is not recommended to anyone who does not have Lynn Viehl or Catie Murphy as an idol. :)

What I do is spend a week or two starting a new manuscript, at least 10k, then I jump into edits for, oh, another two or three months. That works well for me because the shift to a new story gives me the space that a month would otherwise do, and then when I'm done editing, I don't have the vertigo of starting over – I can just pick up with the new manuscript.

I like to streamline, and I'm impatient as all get out. So… this method works for me, but is not recommended to anyone who does not have Lynn Viehl or Catie Murphy as an idol. :)

I’m really looking forward to the rest of the week. :)

I'm really looking forward to the rest of the week. :)