Curing The “I’ve Read My Manuscript Too Many Times” Blues

March 20, 2016 by David T. Allen

We’ve been editing and re-reading our manuscript for days now. Leslie is a machine; she can pour over the same words all day, every day, and make significant improvements. I, however, am weak. I’ve had a hard time contributing lately because all I see are negatives. But, this morning, I found a way to cure it.

Stuck with the sniffles and the I’ve-read-our-manuscript-too-many-times blues, I went to Amazon to read samples from books that I know were commercially successful. Sure enough, I found fault with every sentence.

Realizing my frustrations were due to a weird mood and not something inherently wrong with every word we’d written, I was able to read our manuscript with a kinder eye (and enjoy it!)

Echo Chamber Heist: Full Manuscript Read Through
Last month, I put Echo Chamber Heist away for a few weeks so I could re-read it with fresh eyes. I didn’t get the whole way through, as holidays, work, a two-week uber cold, and a trip to Japan halted my progress. Still, I read a fair amount, and now can work through the most important edits with Leslie.

Sprint 16: Beta Reader Feedback, Mexico, and Pinball
March was a whirlwind. It started with a well-timed trip to Mexico, followed by implementing feedback from nine beta readers, gardening, jury duty, releasing our short story in the Steampunk Fairy Tales collection, and lots of pinball.

Japan Day 3: Thousands of Torii Gates
Most of day 3 was in the fox shrine, Fushimi Inari Taisha, where we hiked mountain paths dotted with thousands of vermilion torii gates. Afterwards, we visited the zen gardens at Tofukuji. To rest, we took a dip in a public bath, where I intentionally got zapped with electricity.

Japan Day 5: Kimono Selfies at Kiyomizu-dera
Our fifth day was filled with kind people, the historic streets of Kyoto, a temple that was built in the 700s, and a giant rabbit statue. We rounded out the night with a trip to Kyoto Station, my favorite station in all of Japan.

#writing