Well, what have we here?
No, you’re not seeing things. It’s a real, live blog post.
This is the last weekend before Camp NaNoWriMo starts so I thought I’d talk about my editing bag.
For July Camp, I’m going to be doing some editing and revising of Book Two of The Other Mages trilogy.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. I probably plan to finish it at least one Camp session every year, but this year is different. This year I have figured out how to solve a major plot problem and I’m eager to get it fixed and get the book wrapped up. (I think it is mostly “finished” except the end was buried somewhere in the middle.)
So, anyhow. My editing bag.
And the reason why I need one.
I’m a nurse, currently working for a staffing agency, riding a school bus with a special needs child with multiple health issues. I have two hours between dropping him at school and getting back on the bus to pick him up again.
That’s almost two full hours of writing and/or editing time.
But since I live too far away from there to go home, the editing stuff has to come with me. Thus, an editing bag. It’s kind of a portable office.
First, there’s the bag itself.
I got it at Michael’s years ago. I had a coupon but it was on sale so I couldn’t use it, so I gave it some random person that was in the same aisle I was.
The main compartment is big enough to hold a three ring binder that has my printed manuscript in it. It also holds a spiral bound notebook for random thoughts, things to check elsewhere in the book (or trilogy or series).
The smaller compartment holds all kinds of good stuff. (Those are paper clips and binder clips. Kind of hard to tell with the reflection, plus I’m a writer, not a photographer.)
What else goes in there? Glad you asked!
Pens and highlighters in a variety of colors.
The scissors and tape and stapler (and extra staples) are for when I move whole sections somewhere else. I’ll cut them out, tape them to a piece of scrap paper and put them in their new spot. (Or I’ll tape them to the page they’re being moved to. Think of it as the original version of “copy (or cut) and paste.”)
And sticky notes of various sizes, shapes, and colors. (And, no, I do not have too many sticky notes. Bite your tongue, child! In fact, I think I need to add another large pad to the bag.)
And, yes, all of that fits in there, with plenty of room to spare. I had some of it pulled out into a “mini bag” and haven’t reassembled it yet – that’s one of my projects for this weekend. By Sunday night it’ll be ready to grab and go so I can get started on Monday.
(I’ll be breaking my tradition of staying up to start NaNo at midnight – my alarm goes off at 5:00 and sleep is a thing.)
Novel Notes 