Tuesday 17 June 2008

Two Editing Speeds - Slow & Stop

Did any of you read the article in the Guardian today by Joanna Trollope, Why I Love Chick Lit. You'll find it here if you want a peek. I'm an avid Chick Lit fan and find it the perfect antidote to a bad mood, irritating day or just life in general, so it was a pleasure to read something positive for once about this much maligned genre.

My editing is going painfully slowly and maybe if I could wisk myself away to a parallel universe for a few days I could get it finished once and for all. Unfortunately though the last few days have been filled with the usual racing around.

I had to drop J off with full rucksack that I couldn't even lift at 8am in the morning for a five hour training trek. I was up in time of course but J had to be called at 7.45 and still hadn't packed the damn bag or filled three 1 litre water bottles etc. Thankfully, we only had to get to Grosnez (I recently posted a pic of the castle ruins) so were only a couple of minutes late. S has been doing rounders and that is always the other side of the island and never finishes when it is supposed to but always finishes in time (but not before) the rush-hour traffic.

Soon I have the pleasure of S's Activity Week when she has to be dropped off at 10am and collected at 3pm at various places in the Island. 10am! That's going to be fun, I start work at 8.30. I'm sure I'll figure out a way round it but sometimes wonder why these things can't be arranged with working parents in mind.

I'm obviously in a ranting mood as this morning we had a team meeting at work and my new Senior Manager (who obviously doesn't know me very well) asked what I thought of a really stupid new system that we have recently been told to follow. Poor woman.

16 comments:

Kat W said...

My editing is also going nowhere today. I am tired and snappy. I wish us both a productive and inspired day tomorrow.

Kat

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

kat - Ditto to that. Maybe we'll do doubly well tomorrow. Here's hoping anyway.

Yvonne said...

My editing was non-existant today too, and my mood isn't the best either. Maybe it's the weather? Whatever it is, a rant does a person good. Here's to a great day of editing tomorrow for us all.

Karen said...

I did read that article and thought it was excellent - good for her!

Don't mention New Systems, or I'll start ranting m'self. Customers at the library are still up in arms but our opinions count for nothing...

HelenMWalters said...

Five hour training trek? Oh my goodness!

Faye said...

Have you heard the tired old joke about a guy wanting to be in charge of cattle placement in the fields? If you're not real country, this may not mean anything--but cows have this strange habit of all facing in the same direction all the time. ANYWAY, sounds like you need to hire someone to rotate your children among all their summer activities. It can be a challenge, I'm sure, for working parents. Employers beware!

Anonymous said...

Poor woman. But apparently she did ask. My work has been going slow all year because of changes that were made to a system we had in place that had run very smoothly for years. It's not only me that it slows down, it seems to slow the process at every step. But sometimes you don't know until you give it a try.

Editing can be tedious, can't it? Especially when you already know what's going to happen. Have fun in your parallel universe.

Carol said...

You're going to have to be superwoman to try and fit all that stuff in!! I think you should try cloning yourself...then the real you can do your editing in the shed and the other you can do the going to work, ferrying the kids around stuff!!

C x

Chris Stovell said...

I echo Carol and Chris - you're really doing well to get any editing done with all that's going on.

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

yvonne - hope you had a better day today, I did (marginally).

karen - oh yes, you had a horrible new system too. Why do they do these things, or if they do why not ask someone who has to work on it. Things are usually so differen in theory.

helenmh - I know, he can't take after me with that sort of stamina.

faye - sounds like a good idea to me. I shall have to get my thinking cap on.

hilary - changes at work can take more time than they save at first, so I'm hoping this one improves. Doubt it though.

Thanks, I'm off to the shed in a mo.

carol & chris - what a brilliant idea, if only I could do that. I think it should all calm down a bit in the holidays (crossing fingers).

chrish - thanks, I'm going to aim to get a bit more done tonight. That's the plan anyway.

Jen said...

Having a good rant is great for the soul, if nothing else.

And as for editing speeds - if I go any more slowly, I'll be going backwards! Aaarrghh. Working is for squares who haven't got a novel to get sorted. And people who's kids want to keep eating. Pffff.

Love your piece in 'You're Not the Only One' - cool that we're next to each other in the book too :0)

Lane Mathias said...

I think what we need Debs is Hired Help. Someone to do all the tedious running around. We can but dream:-)

Managers need new systems. I don't think most have ever heard the old 'if ain't broke, don't fix it' rule:-)

CC Devine said...

Good luck with the editing. I'm feeling exactly as you are at the moment!

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

spiralskies - I agree with you, a rant is a good thing. Best of luck with your editing, it really can be a slog sometimes.

Loved your piece too, brilliant writing.

lane - hired help would be bliss but like you I shall keep on dreaming!

cc devine - thanks and to you. I hope I find some energy some time soon to get going again.

CL Taylor said...

I'm with you on the editing speeds! Gawd, it was torture but strangely enough, like childbirth (me conjecturing as I've never given birth), the memory is fading and I'm thinking "I could do that again." Eeek! Good luck with yours. Stick with it.

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

calistro - I think you sum it up perfectly. I shall press on with the edit and hopefully make some progress.