3/22–4/21—Writing is revising
I spent most of my writing career thinking writing was writing. You come to the page and write and see what happens, then you do it again and again as many times as you have to before your manuscript gets to where you need it to be. The problem I always ran into was that it was impossible for me to write a novel that way. I couldn’t make the narrative stick together. These days, I’ve realized that building out the structure—plotting and orchestrating character connections is a huge part of the process. Writing is outlining, writing is planning, and yes, writing is revising. Outlining and plotting have become a dynamic part of my process.
In mid-March I got my editorial letter from my editors. My first draft was built on an outline, but as soon as I completed the draft, I threw out the outline and created a plot chart, a grid of squares that provided topline bullet points of what happens in each chapter. This chart allows me to skim the whole story and make notes of where I want to make changes. It’s a very strategic process, deciding how to develop various storylines and adjust specific plot points. I made chapter by chapter notes in bold, and then jumped into the revising. More analysis than flow, I worked hard to move the pieces around and lock the story into place.

4/1–5/15—I thought this book was finished!
I turned in my book in January. I wrote four drafts: a rough draft, a revision, an edit, and a final edit. I didn’t get to do a polish draft. When I got my first round of copy edits, I resisted the urge to read the entire manuscript and just read the comments. There were quite a few copy edits that I surfed through and let the chapter go. Two weeks later, the next round contained copy edits and sensitivity reader feedback. We had an Indonesian reader and a child psychologist to address Indonesian cultural representation and the representation of a child with anxiety. In my mind, I thought I was just responding to a few comments, but ultimately, it required deeper levels of review than expected. I had to dig into some research and adjust text. I also gave a parent a new character identity—an identity that was in my mind but not on the page. A few days later, I got notes from a historian on the references to racism and anti-Black violence in America’s history. I made some quick changes there. And this weekend, I got the last round of review. I wanted to read the book again, but I had to be honest with myself about my bandwidth. One of the things that I learned over time was to avoid pursuing perfection. I have to trust the team and reserve my energy for the heavy lifting with the current manuscript.
I reviewed three rounds of copy edits (or was it four?) and made adjustments to the book based on feedback.

4/23–5/15—Do I really have to?
 When it comes to promoting myself, I am a woman of a few words. I get it from my father. He just likes to get to the heart of the matter. He’s been known to pull people off the stage when they’re introducing him and running through is accolades, so I come by it honestly. One of the ways I get myself to dive into things I don’t have the bandwidth for is to tell myself it doesn’t have to be a lot. I can do the bare minimum and then pump it up later. This is what I told myself about my site. Luckily, my agent has an eye for more. She made lots of recommendations that ended up expanding the site. I have a series of e-books that I wanted to move over to the site but didn’t think I could handle it. But when my agent asked about them, I decided to push on and make the changes necessary (this required me to make new covers, update the text, and create new files. Still working on it). The agent felt like my site was a little distance, not allowing people to get to know me. I personally am fine with this, lol. I’ve been known to say, it’s not about me, it’s about the writing. But that is not the era we are in. People want to know the person behind the work.
With my agent’s guidance, I edited the site text and brough more personality and more photos to the site. After three rounds of edits, I approved it at the end of the month and now we are in coding! Additionally, I updated my ebooks and those are also in coding.

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REFLECTION

When you have competing tasks and responsibilities, prioritizing is the name of the game. I have adopted a new practice. If I get an email about marketing on Book 1, I don’t even look at it until the weekend. I’m in such an emotional state from pushing ahead with my daily writing goals, that I don’t have the bandwidth to integrate new information. If I have a day off, I dedicatee that time to my various marketing duties. Sanctioning time for specific duties helps me stave off overwhelm. I can’t do it all at once, but I can do it all step by step, one task at a time. At the end of the month, I went on a writing retreat with friends. We ate, we drank and we worked on our tasks. I am in a high-push period and the only way to succeed is to compartmentalize. Everything in its place and every task where it belongs.

Self-Talk Script: I will not fall into the undertow of competing demands. I am the source of the work, so I will set the pace. Tasks will wait until I have the bandwidth and attention to deal with them. Same-day responses are not necessary and whatever effort to­­­ have to offer is enough.