I’m undertaking a 1000-day reinvention project, blogging here daily to track my progress. In Sunday Planning, I plan for the week ahead.
I’ve finished the first draft of my book manuscript, and received feedback from a trusted reader. I’m ready to do a developmental edit. In this phase, I’ll zoom out and look at the architecture of the book — the framing, the arguments, the examples I use and how, and the structures of the chapters themselves. I won’t be polishing sentences or fixing grammar yet.
I’ve taken a couple days off so I can come to the manuscript with fresh eyes. Then I’m going to do a full read-through, jotting notes and emotional reactions; looking for issues with pacing, repetition, rhythm, voice, and tone.
After that, I’m going to reverse-outline the draft, listing each chapter and section along with what it covers. I will note the function of each. I will check for balance across chapters and sections. I’ll look for gaps and redundancies.
Finally, I’m going to write my own report of what needs to happen, to separate myself as developmental editor from myself as author.
Last Sunday, I wrote about improving upon my daily routine, and I did make a big of progress. I began making my bed immediately upon getting up. I started working on my book manuscript first thing rather than blogging here. I pushed back my morning dog walk to about 8 am or 8:15, instead of feeling antsy and getting started earlier, around 7:30 am. I worked out at 10 am on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I didn’t do a good job working a daily publishing+platform time segment in, but I did start putting together my new pen name website. I blogged in the afternoon 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm window a couple of times.
This week, I plan to continue refining the new routine. I especially want to get that daily time towards publishing+platform established, because as I make progress on the manuscript, I also want to make regular steps towards reaching out to potential readers and book buyers.