Editing!

This month's blog snuck up on me. Totally. I had nothing prepared and was stressing about it all week. I'm swamped with schoolwork, writing, work. Trying to find a permanent teaching job. Signing kidlet up for kindergarten, and remembering to call the doctor so I can get a copy of his shot records. There aren't enough hours in the day to get it all done, and I'm not one of those people who can give up sleep. I need my eight hours or I'm crabby all the next day.

Then my wonderful editor dropped the first round edits for The Ankh of Isis into my lap. It's okay, I'll just work on them during my scheduled writing time. And I figured I'd blog about editing.

Some writers hate editing. They hate revising, or rewriting, or whatever they call it. But I love it. I can't explain why, but I get a thrill out of taking something written and making it better. Polishing is what I live for. Maybe it's why I also like doing English Adaptations of translated books.

I think it's that once I have the whole first draft done, I have the whole picture in front of me. I can see where the mistakes are, and what needs to be put in focus. First drafts, on the other hand, are sometimes reminiscent of dental surgery without benefit of anesthesia. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. But they are slow, and long, and I can never get to the end quick enough, so that I can go back to the beginning.

And there's nothing more satisfying than finishing up with those last bits and finally being satisfied. I learn something new with each successive draft, and each successive book.

Of course, once you submit it, your editor comes back with their editoral letter, and you have to do it all over again, but hey, it's all good, right?

How I'd better get back to those edits so you all can read the book in July instead of August. ^_^

Make every day magical!

Christine