u/BecGWriter

When an editing task takes too long and the gusto you had at the beginning starts to wane, I try these five things:

1. Go for a run. Even when it’s raining. Although I tried that today and it didn’t work. So…
2. Eat something delicious. I checked the cupboards and the kids had eaten all the custard creams and even cereal, so I ended up with raisins. That didn’t work either.
3. Stop. Put the laptop and phone away, and just sit and stare out of the window. I think I lasted three minutes before squirrels highjacked my thoughts and reminded me of the millions of tasks I need to do.
4. Stare at your computer until inspiration hits. It’s not hitting, and you’ve gone down a rabbit hole of the location featured on the Bing homepage.
5. Start a different task that is furthering your cause but that's also accessing a different part of your brain. I was originally editing my novel, then I switched to editing my next non fiction book. Completely different topic and structure. It worked a treat. I got lost in the words for a couple of hours, only stopping to collect my kids.

Sometimes, a change is as good as a rest.

When an editing task takes too long and the gusto you had at the beginning starts to wane, I try these five things:

1. Go for a run. Even when it’s raining. Although I tried that today and it didn’t work. So…
2. Eat something delicious. I checked the cupboards and the kids had eaten all the custard creams and even cereal, so I ended up with raisins. That didn’t work either.
3. Stop. Put the laptop and phone away, and just sit and stare out of the window. I think I lasted three minutes before squirrels highjacked my thoughts and reminded me of the millions of tasks I need to do.
4. Stare at your computer until inspiration hits. It’s not hitting, and you’ve gone down a rabbit hole of the location featured on the Bing homepage.
5. Start a different task that is furthering your cause but that's also accessing a different part of your brain. I was originally editing my novel, then I switched to editing my next non fiction book. Completely different topic and structure. It worked a treat. I got lost in the words for a couple of hours, only stopping to collect my kids.

Sometimes, a change is as good as a rest.

I’ve completed the first draft of my upmarket fiction novel. I’m now working through edits before sending the manuscript to my developmental editor.

Edits are so much less fun than just getting words onto the page! Maybe ‘fun’ isn’t the right word. It’s just that editing requires the real brain power. The first draft is just splurging; the editing process requires deep thinking and focus. It’s hard!!

How do you stay motivated to edit your work?

Hi everyone,

I'm wondering if you can help me with a choice I'm trying to make. I've got my first draft of an upmarket novel. It's a dual timeline exploration of a woman with bipolar disorder. She has a baby at 20 that gives up for adoption. She then has another baby at 40. It's a story of whether she believes she is worthy of being trusted and loved and of loving and trusting others.

It's character led and I think it fits in the upmarket genre. I've heard that books of this nature don't do well when self-published. I'm wondering your experiences of self-publishing in this genre? Also, if you have self published, what are your marketing strategies, if any? or is it just publish and see?

I self published a non fiction book a few years ago and that only sold about 100 copies. I expect it to sell few copies, but I want to give it the best chance at success. Also, I intend to write more books, so over time I hope to compound my impact!

Just looking for other's stories and tips! Thanks so much.