On Writing & Storytelling: Sleepy or Not, I Got Some Editing Done Today

It’s midafternoon here in Lithia, Florida, on Tuesday, June 6, 2023 – the 79th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, one of the pivotal battles of World War II. It’s a hot (86°F/30°C), sunny day outside, but happily there are no rain showers or thunderstorms in the forecast. I’m still sleepy and tired even though I took a shower, shaved, and got dressed in “street clothes.”

 If I had slept better last night, I would probably take a book with me to the nearby park and read for a while on my favorite bench, but sleep deprivation makes me lethargic; I don’t feel like doing anything.

I did a bit of editing on the manuscript earlier. I trimmed a few lines from a scene that was okay as written but was a bit too long. I probably could have shortened it a bit more, but my energy levels are low, and my enthusiasm is even lower. If I could take naps the way my mother used to when she was my age, I’d probably feel better and more productive, but I have a hard time sleeping during daylight hours. So, I’ll just try to relax and take it easy for the rest of the afternoon. If I feel like writing later, I will. If not, I will do it tomorrow.

Anyway, about that bit of editing I did earlier: I didn’t do a major revision like the one I did yesterday for the South Miami Senior High set scene in which Jim resists the idea of singing a solo at the 1981 Winter Concert. That one involved quite a bit of rethinking and rewriting, and it took me a few hours to do – I don’t always get things to “sound right” the first time I write something, especially if the dialogue is involved, so I had to first try one version of the scene, then another, then another, until I was satisfied that the new version matched the rest of the chapter, which (thankfully) did not require edits, large or small.

Today’s task just involved cutting a few lines of descriptive narrative and some overly long bits of dialogue. I’m not sure (cos I’m still a bit groggy) if the edits help or hurt the story, but I’ve already incorporated them into the master document file. I can always revisit the chapter later and fine-tune the passages later. For now, though, I’m content knowing that I worked on the story instead of just taking the day off and, as they used to say in the 1940s, being a goldbrick.