Monday, November 28, 2011

Closet Cleaning

Sometimes when you start a project like cleaning out your closets for winter, there comes a point about halfway through when you look up and are almost overwhelmed with the enormity of what you have started. The creeping horror that this might take slightly longer than you originally planned settles like a lead weight in the pit of your stomach.

Maybe it’s the huge piles of crap surrounding you or maybe it’s the realization that most of this stuff doesn’t fit and you don’t need it anyway. You reassure yourself that although it might look like a big old mess now…it will soon be neat, organized, and fit together perfectly.

And that’s the point I’m at with my current manuscript. I’ve pulled out everything for closer scrutiny. Now I am deciding what is important and absolutely needed, and what I can donate or maybe save for a garage sale…

Do ya feel me? Where are you at with the current wip?

And this may be the best reason for never cleaning your closet:

Posted by Marsha Sigman at 11:09 AM
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10 comments:

  1. Bryan RussellNovember 28, 2011 at 11:27 AM

    I have various manuscripts at varying stages of disaster.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bethany ElizabethNovember 28, 2011 at 11:55 AM

    I have 90,000 words of mess that I'm trying to suss out. Oh goodness, it gets exhausting. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lisa AldinNovember 28, 2011 at 12:34 PM

    I'm still first-drafting...so I'm still adding the CRAP into the CLOSET!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Luanne G. SmithNovember 28, 2011 at 12:49 PM

    I'm at the stuffing it all in the closet stage (otherwise known as a first draft).

    But what is this cleaning thing you speak of? Sounds too organized for me.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jennifer HillierNovember 28, 2011 at 3:20 PM

    I feel you. Cleaning out the closet can be totally overwhelming, but just think how neat and organized and shiny it will be once you're done!

    ReplyDelete
  6. K.C. WoolfNovember 28, 2011 at 4:10 PM

    There will be no monsters in any closets of mine, for sure!

    I think (well, hope) I'm better at cleaning up manuscripts than cleaning out closets. Taking on a big task one step at a time seems to work better for me when I can do it in my head. (if that makes sense)

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnnaNovember 28, 2011 at 4:25 PM

    I took everything out of my closet, and am now trying to reorganize it. But now that you mention closets, I have a sudden urge to empty my real closet rather than clean the WIP.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jessica SilvaNovember 28, 2011 at 8:22 PM

    I know how you feel! I was close to that point not too long ago, reassessing my entire plot and putting some puzzle pieces together so the whole thing could finally WORK. and work it has (so far).

    ReplyDelete
  9. B.E. SandersonNovember 29, 2011 at 7:01 AM

    LOL, I love the comparison. I'm in the middle of polishing my newly re-written WIP. At this point, I'm done with the major hauling of old trash and just trying to use Pledge on everything so it shines. ;o)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Small Town Shelly BrownNovember 30, 2011 at 12:22 PM

    Oh, I feel your pain. I think with WIPs and closets, I'm too attached to stuff. I really don't have a problem getting rid of stuff, I just have NO IDEA where to start. What do I really need? What will I wish was still around? I just finished NaNo and I have to pull out my book I was editing. I cringe at the thought.

    ReplyDelete

It helps to know I'm not just talking to myself.

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