Going for the Juggler

I hadn't really mentioned this before, but there's a reason I've been revising so furiously. On February 25th, the Tiger Tales literary contest is closing. Everyone is waiting on one key factor: will they start accepting novels this year?

They haven't had any reason to yet, but with two or three other novels already being submitted, chances have never been so good. I've been complaining year after year that short stories just aren't my thing, but this time that might not keep me out of the running.

As you've probably guessed, I'm entering the contest with my novel, The Third Face, and have decided to bring it through one more revision before I get there. It's hard to estimate how much editing there really is to do; it was originally about 80 pages long, and it's grown to over 100 before I've made it halfway through. I can't tell you the exact statistics, though, as they keep changing.

The fact is that even though I take whatever chance I can get to covertly revise during school hours, I've still spent a good four hours of my evening each day since the 25th of January, and I'm still worried about whether I'll finish on time. There's definitely a lot to do.

Alongside that, I am still doing the same beta reading that I mentioned a couple entries back. I'll admit that it's not a huge amount of work in its own right, but my tendency not to give it priority has made it really slow. I'm surprised the author isn't getting really impatient with me--she has every right to be. Still, she's politely followed up about it, making me suddenly aware of my mistake.

I suppose it would help if I was able to say no when a close friend plopped a half-finished manuscript down in front of me. This isn't a really big deal, since I told him he isn't getting any feedback until he finishes it. But it does make yet another manuscript I have some hand in revising at this very moment.

Look how long this blog entry is running. And I haven't even gone outside my writing life here. For your sake, I won't go into everything else, but I will tell you that there's a ton more for me to worry about these days. It's a wonder I haven't died. I can't believe I was able to put aside some time today to write this blog entry. There are actually plenty more blog entries way overdue for me to write... when I have time.