October: Pitch Wars and a month in review

Many a time during October, I imagined myself writing this post. How triumphant I would feel, knowing that I had survived.

And now I finally get to write it! Albeit sick. But I have my tumbler of warm liquids close by and fuzzy socks on, so it's not too bad. 

So if you've read this post, then you know that October was off the crazy charts. I was college counseling three students who are not native English speakers. I had to comprehensively + line-edit all their essays. It was fun but, as you can probably imagine, quite a bit of work. I also had college going on the in background, and the usual onslaught of readings and exams.

And then I had Pitch Wars.

I've heard about various revision experiences, from getting a few line edits to changing the POV entirely to tearing out sections and rewriting. I'll be upfront and say that I did not have to rewrite my book, and so I guess I could have had it worse in terms of work-load. My biggest/hardest edit was increasing the tension and pacing in the beginning.  

At the same time, I am a notoriously slow reviser. First, I take a lot of time to mull over solutions. Then I take a lot of time to implement them because I mull over word choice and other nit-gritty things like that. I am also a slower drafter. Basically, I am slow at everything.

So despite the comparatively "smaller" revision, I ended up slaving over it. 

Going into October, I realized that I had all of this on my plate. And since I like placing a lot of stress on myself, I resolved that I would not let anything slide. I would give my kids all the counseling that they needed. I would get the grades I wanted. I would complete PW to my satisfaction.

And now I'm glad to say that I kept my promise to myself!

(With the exception of one exam that I'm pretty sure I did not do so hot on, but that was an early November exam, so not officially part of the October crazies).

I think the key to staying somewhat sane (the bf would argue otherwise and say that I was not sane at all) is to remember to do the little things. For example, I rarely paint my nails during the summer, but come fall and winter, there's just something satisfying about having nice nails to go with my sweaters. So despite not having that much time, I tried to take a little time for myself every other week to paint my nails. I even got some new Essie colors to inspire me!

That might sound like something really small, and I agree it was. I had to give up some bigger things. My fall break is one example. While my roommates from Texas and New Jersey all left to go home for their fall break, I stayed at my dorm for the majority of it even though I live twenty minutes away. I decided to use that quiet time to work on revisions, and I'm glad to say that I got a lot done during those days! When everyone returned, refreshed, I was anything but refreshed, but sometimes you can't have everything (even I recognize that). 

But the thing about giving things up to accomplish something is to make sure that you then celebrate your accomplishment. I fall victim to getting swept into the frenzy of everything and not truly savoring my accomplishments. This time I was determined so carve out some time and not fall into that habit. 

So three of my good friends and I went to Linvilla Orchards for apple picking. This is the place that I used to go to for my birthday as a kid. It's been years since I last went. 

I actually didn't end up picking/buying any apples, but it was still incredibly fun. We all went out to dinner afterwards, and then I splurged on some fancy tea. 

In the end, was it a rough month? Yes, it was. Probably the roughest month of all time. But was it worth it? Yes, a thousand times.

And I couldn't have done it without the support of all the various people in my life. Thank you to:

- My parents, who realized that I wasn't eating as well as I should have. My mom, who works close to my college campus, took me out to lunch many a time during the month. She also read through the first 50 of HESPERIA again when I asked her to evaluate the changes. 

- My CP's Molly, Laura, Anne, and Deb. Some of you have read HESPERIA as I was writing it, some have read later drafts, but no matter what time of the MS I found you at, you have all helped it grow so much. 

- My fellow writer friends who have been so supportive on fb and twitter.

- My biffles Sean and Cindy, who remind me to have fun even when I'm all grumpy and convinced that there is no time for fun. 

- The Pitch Wars mentee community. You guys are the bomb. I'm neither the most social person ever nor the person who posts the wittiest and funniest posts, and so sometimes I find fb groups intimidating, but I'm so, so glad that this community is one that I feel like I'll turn to for a longgggg time. Thanks for all the hugfests, guys :)

- My mentor Mara, who literally opened this golden door of opportunity for me. Her fierce championing of the manuscript still blows me away sometimes, and I still have to pinch myself to believe it's real. Without her, this post wouldn't exist. Without her, I wouldn't have had the chance to go on this journey of my life. So thank you. Thank you.

- And lastly, the bf I've mentioned before. He's worn many hats for me--beta reader, idea brainstormer, restaurant exploring partner, cheerleader, and best hug-giver. We just celebrated 1.5 years together today, so he's really had a chance to see all the scary that is involved in the journey of a writer seeking publication.

Luckily, I haven't scared him away yet :D

How was your October?