Thinkin’ on Thursday: Taxes and Other Tsunamis

Easy as A, B, C . . . from BB

Taxes are coming up, all too soon.  And I’m starting to look at old, filed papers.  Speaking of which, I have plenty of old copies of critiques from various classes or workshops.  Critiques I paid close attention to, made voluminous notes on, etc.

But, did I put them to actual use?  It seems, I’ve been far too lazy in that regard.  Let’s take an old story I worked on one year for NaNoWriMo but never got back to.  Or, at least didn’t get “back to” enough:  I have notes from a workshop I went to, with multiple copies of that particular chapter or two.  Then I filed them: you know, so they wouldn’t get lost.  I needed an example of critiques for a class I was teaching, so I ran a few more copies of a chapter or two.  And let them have it to “practice” critiquing.  At some point I took some of it to my usual critique group.  They gave me even more notes.  Later, I started a small, new critique group and — you’ve got it: gave them some pages.

Some of those times, I made some changes.  So page 4 for one group of critiques may or may not match up with page 4 of any other critiques.  And I personally wrote down notes from each of the sources. In different places.

Now I’m stuck with pages, and Pages, and PAGES of critiques, pages which don’t match, different versions of the same scene — and it’s mostly a frustrating mess!

The thing is, I believe in the story. Over time, I’ve put a lot of thought and effort into it. But not enough.

So here’s what I’m thinkin’:  IF you submit pages to any kind of critique — classmates, a teacher, a formal critique group, a workshop bunch, etc. — make one coherent copy of all your notes as soon as possible after receiving them. While it’s all still fresh on your mind, decide which comments and/or corrections need to be given credence, and which do not fit what you wanted for your story. Make the changes.

The final step is up to you: Do you want to keep those critiques and notes for posterity? If so, file them along with the current copy of you mss. (You may have older versions on file as well, but keep ONE copy of the ultimate version of your best work. Don’t let it get mixed up with all the other versions.

The other choice would be shredding all the old critiques and notes once you’ve put the useful ones into practice. You may want to wait on that just long enough to have it in the hands of your editor and/or agent.

In any case, why keep all copies of every comment if you made a carefully analyzed list of all the changes you agreed with, and then put them into practice?

OK. Back to “my” problem, now that I’ve given you methods to avoid doing the same: how would you deal with a pile of notes, critiques, various versions, etc., that might take up half a file drawer all by itself? Please suggest your ideas in the comments below . . . I’m drowning here in a paper tsunami!

See you next for Spellbinder Saturday!

Monday Moans: Paper, Paper, Everywhere and Not a Page to Ink!

East as A, B, C . . . from BB

I can’t find any paper clips. Well, to be honest there are a couple of those little ones lying around, but I like the nice big ones better. Not that I’m usually clipping together pages and pages of materials, but I just like the longer length of them. I feel my papers are more . . . secure?

And why this seeming paucity of paper clips? Well, they’re holding together the multiple copies of the pages I took to my Friday critique group: the Wasatch Mountain Fiction Writers (WMFW]. And they’re holding together the pages I took to the ABC Writers Guild critique session on Sunday night. And some are still clipped to the critiques I got at WIFYR [Writing and Illustrating for Young Writers]. Last June! And I’m afraid to admit that I have some groups of papers still clipped together from much longer ago that those.

I’ve got paper clips on groups of papers from last year. And the year before that. And . . . well, you’ve probably got the idea. Mind you, I heard and/or read all the critiques. But you never know when you might want to look them over again. I’ll stop wanting that last, fond look (because some of them did point out some of the positive things about my writing) when the book(s) is/are published. Until then, you never can tell . . .

And what about the paper itself? If it still has a clean side, I could reuse it. I believe in saving paper. So I’d have to take the paper clips off, sort through them. I’m getting more and more paranoid about my garbage having identifying information in it, so I’d have to take the time to shred them. And my shredder is jammed. Again. Maybe I could use a paper clip to unjam it. Oh, wait. I haven’t got a nice, long paper clip anywhere around.

All right, back to the “paper itself” thing. Some of those pages were used on both sides, but some of them might have had a half sheet that was still white. I could tear them in half (or even use my paper cutter), tear the half in half, giving me some nice little quarter sheets, convenient for writing down plot ideas, snatches of conversation, telephone messages, phone numbers, etc., etc., etc.

But, again, I’d have to sort through it all.

Admittedly I need to sort through it all. I have paper grocery bags around my desk: papers to shred (once I unjam the shredder); papers to sort; papers to add to the recyclables (after I’ve sorted through for re‑usable sheets . . . and half sheets . . . and quarter sheets). (And sorted through for paper clips!)

But right now, I have to run off some copies for my next critique session. If only I had some half‑used sheets of paper, so I don’t have to break into another clean ream. But if I find some paper, then I’ll need to find some paper clips!

Help! I’m drowning in paper. And not an unused paper clip in sight!

See you day-after-tomorrow for Wednesday’s WIPs!