Privacy, Please

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to lock myself in a hotel room for half a weekend with time all to myself. I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking “Why would you lock yourself in a hotel room instead of actively doing things out and about?”

Well, first of all, it was a small town and there’s not much to do anyway. But, second and most importantly, I vowed to spend all of Saturday editing Ascent Into Light. These were largely line edits, but if a plot hole presented itself (which they did), I would squash it. This was all in preparation for beta readers and my editor next month.

So let me just say this: If you’re a writer, you should try this!!! Find an excuse to go somewhere an hour or two away, hole up in a hotel for a day or two and just EDIT!!! Or write! Whichever. If you have the means, it’s worth it. Even just locking yourself in a room in your house for 12 hours would work pretty well.

Of course I had snacks. I never got out of my PJs. I never once left the hotel room. SyFy was playing a Harry Potter marathon and there was football on TV as well. I was so in the zone it hurt.

It was amazing, and was precisely what I needed. Did I get the entire book edited? Hell no. I think I got 13 or so chapters through the wringer and, while it was progress, that really wasn’t the main point.

Only, I didn’t know this until I just recently reflected upon the experience.

See, I’m not a full-time writer. My writing endeavors will most likely never pay the bills past anything more than an extra latte at Starbucks once a month. But this… this one day of uninterrupted, “no distractions or responsibilities” editing gave me a taste of what it would be like.

And, let me tell you, I could absolutely get used to it. I’d love the opportunity to prove it.