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No! Not procrastination: editing…

Draft 2, ready to be rewritten...
Draft 2, ready to be rewritten…

Well, today the book was printed out – again – for editing – again – with the hope that I won’t have to do it … again.

I know, I know: I’m the same as everyone else when it comes to writing, editing and ultimately publishing a book. It takes longer than I want. I want it to be the best I can possibly make it. I want to present a story that holds together from beginning to end. I want to entertain the reader, whoever he or she may be.

And then I edit, and edit, and edit. I get bored of bits of it (and if I’m bored, what is the reader thinking?) I get frustrated with sentences and paragraphs that I have rewritten repeatedly and still don’t sound right. I cry at the parts where it all goes wrong.

It turns out I am best at one of the crucial parts of editing: walking away. Give me a chance to pop off for a cup of tea, or meet up with friends, or go shopping… and I’ll gladly escape, telling myself that it is important to give my writing space. I must allow time for the edits to sink in, for comments to be realised, for the perfect words to come.

Yeah right.

Today, when I sat down and worked at the book I realised it wasn’t going to take as long as I thought to finish off the bits that I knew were wrong (note: I found many new parts that were wrong as well!) Every time I tweaked a sentence, or rearranged a chapter, or rephrased a paragraph I knew I was improving the book, and I knew I was that much closer to the final product.

Does having done it once before help? Yes, as I know the timescales I can expect before it will be able to be physically held in my hands, but in other ways no, as it still needs to be written!

I am determined not to walk away from it, and I am determined to make it as good as I can. I anticipate the next week will be filled with moments of despair as I re-read the book once more and wonder why anyone would be interested by it… interspersed with moments of joy, laughter and tears as I re-live the writing. Editing benefits from breaks, but it also benefits from hard work, and that is what the coming week (or two) holds.

23 September 2015 by Catharine Withenay Leave a Comment

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