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setting goals



I wrote my first Paranormal Romance Novel over a year ago. It just flowed out of me as if someone stood behind me whispering the words into my ear as I transcribed them onto the page. I finished the first draft in less than three months.

Unfortunately, I've been editing and rewriting it ever since and can't seem to get to a point where I feel it's ready for submission. I've worked on it to the point of hating it. 

With the help of a word processor I'm no longer forced to write six or seven drafts of a manuscript. I just edit and revise in my program adding, subtracting, and substituting words until I am happy with the sounds they make together. I'd say I'm at the equivalent of about the twentieth draft by now. 

The book is over 70,000 words. The story is all there. But I'm still not satisfied. 

I've worked it to death. 

So I've set a deadline to quit working on it. If it's not any good by the end of the deadline that's okay, I'm done with it, until it's rejected or the publisher tells me how the hell to fix it. 

I set a goal of 31 days to finish –starting yesterday. My goal is to finish editing and polishing as much as I can –at least one chapter and hopefully several chapters a day. At the end of the day I'm going to print out the chapters I've finished and go on to the next chapter the following day. I'm hoping to complete this cycle before the end of my allotted time.  

When I've printed the entire book I'm handing it over to my beta readers. As soon as I get their feedback I'll make any minor adjustments needed and then it's off to the publisher. 

In the meantime I'll be posting updates on my progress and asking all my loyal followers to nag me if I'm not staying on schedule.  

Day 1, yesterday, I worked on the outline, did a final edit of chapter ONE, and printed part of the outline, the coversheet, and the first chapter. It's a short chapter. Truth is most of my chapters are short. But I conquered my goal for day ONE.  
  
Let's see if I can do the same today. 

Wish me luck, and be prepared to kick my butt, every day for the next 30 days.
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