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Friday Revisions, and I’m a Guest at Patricia Lynne’s Blog!

 ( For my #writecampaign friends, my first challenge post is here.)

I’m guest posting at Patricia Lynne’s My Journey Through the Pages. Please come chat with me there!
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Friday Revisions: I’ve been lagging behind on revising stories.

I’ll make no excuses. Life has swamped me in all kinds of directions. My latest idea for revisions is to take print-outs with me to bed, or in taxis, doctor’s waiting rooms, flights…in short any place I get five extra minutes, which I usually devote to reading.

What do you do when you need to get revisions done, but have no time?
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To repeat: I’m guest posting at Patricia Lynne’s My Journey Through the Pages. Please come chat with me there! 🙂
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Fiction authors, take a look at the Rule of Three Blogfest, a month-long shared-world fiction extravaganza starting 5th October— with some great prizes, and of course, a lot of exposure and constructive feedback for your writing. This is one Blogfest fiction authors ought not to miss. Go ahead and sign up!

Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas is the author of You Beneath Your Skin and numerous short stories that have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, the UK, and Asia. She has been shortlisted for Best Small Fictions and Bath Novel Awards and is co-editor of the Forge Literary Magazine. Her literary crime thriller series, the Blue Mumbai, is represented by Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency. Both The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon were published in 2023.

I appreciate comments, and I always visit back. If you're having trouble commenting, let me know via the contact form, or tweet me up @damyantig !

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9 Comments

  • I have to say, I stumbled across your blog by accident and I'm not dissapointed. I have just started blogging 3 ish days ago. I figured that blogging was similar to twitter in that, many followers increased popularity. After reading this particular post, you've shown me otherwise. I now see blogging as an entirely different experience. Something that I can truly enjoy. Thanks for that! 🙂

  • quidforquill says:

    What do I do? Panic! haha But seriously, after the panic comes the inevitable plotting of "I don't care how it happens, I must make this work." Sometimes life just overwhelms you. That's just life. It likes to do that. I think it feels ignored or even bored if things go smoothly for too long. But it always straightens out eventually. Just do your best. And remind yourself that you're doing your best within the time constraints and circumstances you have. If you keep reminding yourself of that, you won't beat yourself up if you don't meet the deadline you "think" you should have been capable of. We're our own worst enemies and it isn't just the inner critic we have to worry about! Best of luck!! =)

  • Damyanti says:

    Michael, congrats on taking the plunge! Hope your novel WIP progresses in leaps and bounds!

  • I know exactly what you mean. I was writing so many new short stories in the last few weeks, that I was having first drafts pile up without getting around to second drafts.

    I'm starting to clear the backlog, but it's not easy.

    This is part of why I committed to starting on a novel sooner than I had originally expected. The idea was sitting there, waiting to be used, and having a large project to work on would let me also tidy up my short stories without churning out more of those right away.

    Of course, that means I'll have a REALLY BIG revising project at some point down the road. But… lalalalala… I'll just not think about that for now!

  • Damyanti says:

    Clarissa, would be thrilled if you join…Yay for Crime in Renaissance!!

  • I'm not a revision person myself but I've had to do revision on revision with my latest story. Yikes.

    I got your comment on my blog. I'm seriously considering it. Right now I have some other really important (and time consuming) projects on my plate… and deadlines. But, I am thinking about it.

  • Damyanti says:

    Donna, thanks for your thoughtful comment, and am THrilled you signed up…I like your writing and am dying to see what you cook up in the month of October!

    Ellie, thanks for the excellent advice. I do try and make writing the most important thing in my life…but the guilt never goes away.

  • I totally feel your pain and frustration when it comes to revisions. Life just seems to get in the way, and then, when you're able to find the time you're usually too exhausted to be able to concentrate. But there is an answer – prioritising and delegation. Not every other non-writing job is essential, and you can ask others to do some of them. Once final tip, learn to use the word no without feeling guilty, and don't say maybe, that just gets their hopes up and they'll continue asking you. Tell your friend/family member that you can't do such and such this time, however you will do so and so later.

    Hope that all makes sense!

  • Donna Hole says:

    Oh Honey; I'm so with you here. I've done all that, and only end up frustrating myself b/c I just start getting my groove on in a story when -whatever time frame ends and I'd seriously like to kill something. Or somebody.

    Prioritizing isn't always easy as it sounds.

    When I decide to revise my own writing, I set the date, schedule the time off (I have a day job)stick my tongue out at everyone who thinks my time off means time with them, and let everything else go.

    Dishes, family, work, blogging, critiquing, beta reading . . Its all excuses and distractions from revising/writing. When I set that time aside, I dedicate myself like Professor Binns (Harry Potter) and let the world blow up around me while I finish what I started out to do.

    Thanks for letting me know about the Rule of Three blogfest – I'll check it out. And your guest post too. Yep, I fall behind too, and I'm so glad when my friends alert me to important happenings in their world.

    I wouldn't have wanted to miss these.

    …….dhole