There’s an introduction, eight chapters and a conclusion. (Chapter 7 is more of an interlude than a proper chapter, so maybe I could call it seven and a half chapters …. ) Anyway, I’ve taken two weeks’ annual leave to revise and prune this book draft, and after four days and evenings hard at it, I can now say I’ve only got three (two and a half) chapters and the conclusion left to deal with.
It seems punishing, but the idea is that I’ll spot inconsistencies if I’ve dealt with it all in a condensed space of time, so that earlier sections are still fresh in my mind as I come to the later chapters. This has proven to be the case, so far. Did they move to London in the late 1920s or the late 1930s? Ah, yes, THERE they are! Sorted.
All the while, snip, snipping and re-wording to get the word-count down by 11% across the board.
I had a tiny panic when I couldn’t actually find Chapter 5 this morning. For ten seconds I thought, ‘Don’t worry, it’ll be there’, followed by fifteen seconds of, ‘Oh dear, it’s not in either folder where it ought to be’. Five seconds of ,’OH, SH**!!’, and then there it was. I’d renamed it at some point, but not in the Book Schedule document that’s meant to keep me on track. Phew!
I finally ground to a halt at 9.30 this evening. Chapter 5 is neatly tied up, and filed in two places on the cloud. I’m just feeling a bit frayed around the edges …
But just think how great tomorrow’s going to be! I wrote Chapters 6, 8 and the Conclusion so recently that they should be reasonably fresh in my mind. I just might get Chapter 6 and tiny Chapter 7 revised tomorrow – wouldn’t that be good?
Karen McAulay, Musicologist 