Oh! Oh! Oh!

 

Remember that old marching song:

99 bottles of beer on the wall

99 bottles of beer

Take one down, and pass it around,

98 bottles of beer on the wall.

Its repetitive melody helps you find your rhythm when hiking trails or jumping ropes. It’s an ear worm that keeps you steady when the task at hand seems monumentally tedious. It diverts your attention from the monotony to the goal. That’s what I feel when I revise. When I finish a first draft, breathing a sigh of relief and accomplishment, I move on to the first revision. Only to discover another plot hole. A character acts out of character. First person slips into third person. Or worse, the history is wrong.

But.

You know what? I hate beer. And this particular morning, after a week of finals, I’m not liking revision. It’s hard, hard, hard work.

Indeed. Instead of spending all those hours writing, typing, outlining, researching, deleting, cutting, pasting, I could bake a pie. I could learn a new hobby, learn to sky dive and jump off a cliff, plant another garden, or two, or three…

Wait.

 True enough, I have enough gardens. Besides, it’s cold outside. And I have enough hobbies, which mostly centers on books and more books. And I haven’t had a baking oven for over a decade.  And sky diving? What?

Besides, this character, for all her flaws, is getting really interesting. If I could just…

Fine. Back to work.

By the way, wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday.

O yea, speaking of which, I should tell you:

I now have an agent! Sarah N. Fisk is an Associate Literary Agent in the Tobias Literary Agency! I am immensely honored to be working with Sarah!

 As the saying goes: watch this space!

-- Bobbi Miller