Reading All Day: Not As Fun As It Sounds

Ugh. Can I just say ugh? I’ve been having to read all day long for the past three days.

What!? Why aren’t you giving me sympathetic pats on the back and saying, “There, there, it’ll be okay. You’ll get through this.” ???

Maybe I should explain to those of you out there who would love to while away a day with a book….this is not reading for fun. This is work!

Remember last week when I said I was close to being done with the second draft of my next two books? Well, they’re done. Sort of. It’s only a second draft and there’s still a lot (A LOT!!!!) of work ahead. But before I can continue with Ye Olde Thirde Draftte of the two books, I need to read through the draft of the ones I’ve just completed.

All 160,473 words of them.

Ugh.

This came out to be 332 printed pages (regular printer paper) of margin to margin text (and never fear, this is paper that has been or will be reused).

This isn’t reading for fun. This is picking apart every turn of phrase, every gaping plot hole (and here I thought I’d plugged them all), every missed dialogue tag, every out of sequence scene, all while keeping meticulous notes on everything so I know what needs to be done when (if!) I ever survive the read through and get to Draft Three.

In other words, it’s slow going. I’d hoped to get the read through done in four days, but as Douglas Adams said, “I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.”

Luckily, I have help. Finn has a red pen in one paw for corrections and a pencil in the other for note taking – who knew he was ambidextrous, right?!

Anyway, I’ll see you on the other side in a few days…assuming my eyes don’t go crossed. So many words!!!

Any big projects you’re tackling? If you’re a writer, how do you tackle your read throughs? Be sure to leave a comment!! Thanks everyone, have a great weekend!!!