WIP status, rewrite over. scared proud and stupid!

Its official folks. I've written the same book twice.

Oh, I don't know...about two minutes ago, I wrote the last vignette of my book. !!!!
Hey, wait I need a little more excitement !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pardon my explanation points.

It took me 36 days to write 370 pages by hand. I did it! I accepted that my first go at this story was shit. And now I'll accept that this draft is just stinky farts. Not as bad, right?

Anyways...

PROS of the experience:

My book has four or five more scenes, but its half as long as the first time. Yup that's right. More story. But half as long!!!! (Meaning I stopped describing every little effing thing and have wayyyy less dialogue.)

I don't like to preplot, so the first time I had all these crazy things going on that didn't lead anywhere. This time around, I knew exactly what the story was about, so I could write it, and only it, nothing else. There is not a single scene in this book that does not affect the story in a major way.

I learned what was important. I stopped rambling on about meals and measley logistics and just got to the good stuff. I learned how to summarize the things that lead up to the major scenes and then detail those scenes in all their glory.

CONS

I sound like a dumbass.
SOMEONE: "So, hey what are you writing?"
ME: "The book I wrote last summer."
SOMEONE: "Like, the same book?"
ME: "Yeah, I'm writing the same book twice."
SOMEONE: "Why?"
ME: "Because it wasn't good enough the first time."
SOMEONE: "Oh."
ME: "Yeah."

I'm a little worried that I'll keep getting stuck in this book. I looked back at the beginning of what I rewrote, and again thought amateur!!! But I refuse to rewrite it again. I'm going to work with what I got.

I still can't look past line-edits. A good editor can look past confusing sentences or icky paragraphs to the story, and see if there are any weaknesses with the major aspects of the story. I still get caught up in each and every little word. This has not changed.

BUT I'M OPTIMISTIC!

In order to ensure that I DO NOT get stuck in this story, I'm giving myself six more months. I can only be as good as I am right now. This draft is better than the last one. If I were to rewrite it again, it would be better, but I won't. I will edit. For six months. ARE YOU LISTENING, SELF??? I said six months.

That's right. Count 'em. Six. Then I'll move on, cuz I got lots a stories to tell.

I can only be as good as I am right now.

HOLY COW! I'm moving on to editing. Can I look past the words, and find the faults in the story? And stop changing the lines so that I can improve the character development and the plot?

I guess you'll have to stay tuned to find out. And feel free to give me any editing pointers, or point me to your fave posts on editing.

AND stop by tomorrow, because I'm participating in my very first blogfest, which is a scene set on a school campus.

Time to celebrate. Guess how I'm going to do that? Let myself out of this neighborhood for the first time in seven days. Oh how kind I am to myself. :)