Day 270: Editing

All morning and into the afternoon, I worked on the book, so by two I was ready for a long walk in the rain.  The cool misty rain was invigorating and felt a lot like spring days of hiking on Quest.  Fortunately, I didn't have the camera because the skies opened up and we got drenched.

Over the past two weeks I have reread the entire manuscript and made long lists of things that have to be addressed.   Either I have been kidding myself about how much is done or I have completely rethought what I have already written.  Or both.  I see gaps, organizational problems, flat narratives, barren descriptions.  Some parts are too rich or repetitive and need editing.  I wonder what my audience will want to read and how that might conflict with the stories I want to tell and the demands of an editor or publisher.   The project has grown so much that it fills six binders.

I decided to start counting and recording words on my calendar again.  There's something about tallying up the word count that helps me push on.   Plus, I am using a bright green highlighter to cross off items on the lists when I have finished them.  I crossed seven items off the list for the instruction manual and only have five more tasks before that part is done.   Then it struck me that I will need to compile an electronic file for the entire manual.  Yikes!  It feels like there is still so much to be done, but then I look at how much information I have already collected;  two full binders of interview transcripts, a manual that we can hand over to future leaders, lesson plans for the classes.

Quest: Twenty-five years of backpacking with eighth graders!

Turquoise: first drafts and revisions

Blue: Finished chapters