Thursday, November 08, 2007
New Work Habits:
Yesterday I researched, wrote, edited and sent my article for next week to my editor - right after dinner.
Tonight I edited a section from my final copy editor that included two requests to expound on the narrative, add some action and description (color and background) to the text - right after dinner.
Tomorrow I'm visiting my brother in Sacramento so I'll have to take the day off for that, but unless we have some social function I'm unaware of, I'll be right into work - right after dinner - on Saturday and Sunday.
Verdict: The new work habit system seems to work well, but as the holidays come ever closer I'm going to have a fair number of nights where socializing will cut into work. That's okay because that's the best part of the winter holidays for me - spending time with family and friends over good food and wine. But to augment those nights, it will still be good to take any daytime opportunity that presents itself to get some work done.
Once we return from the southern tip of the South American continent (Cape Horn - Argentina and Peru) on the 31st, and the holidays end and turn into just winter, the new work schedule should go well, barring any unforeseen events. As much as I want to finish I don't think I'll have all of Stuart's corrections completed before we leave in December. I don't even have all the sections from Stuart yet. (These are long and complicated chapters at the end of the book, and it takes a while to edit all that text.)
You always have to give your editor some breathing space so he can feel comfortable and do the job well, in Stuart's case, brilliantly. I feel very fortunate to have him as my final copy editor. I couldn't ask for better.
(Cross-posted to my Book One website.)
