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The writer's life isn't exactly what I imagined it would be. Granted, I hadn't given it much thought. But I figured it went something like this: Write a book, get it published. Move onto the next.
For me it all started with an idea. More specifically, the conflict. I went with it, and soon fell in love with everything about writing.
It's magical, right? Discovering who our characters are. Experiencing the way they come to life and take over. Those payoff moments when pieces start clicking in ways we never saw coming.
Sort of like the honeymoon phase. For me, anyway.
And then the editing phase comes along. And stays a while. And frankly wears out its damn welcome. The editing phase becomes its own life form. One that moves in, takes over the bed and eats all the food.
I have literally fallen asleep at the laptop while doing revisions/ edits (more than once), and though I can't be certain, I'm willing to bet it wasn't as pretty as the picture above. I will say that I've learned to appreciate the editing phase though. Because in its own way, it offers a different sort of pay off: polish.
This is the time to really make our story shine. I think it's easy to get to this point and say, "Meh, I'm sick of this one and I'm really loving my new idea so I'm just going to work on that one for now."
My advice? Don't. Do not move onto the next one unless you're shelving your current work in progress. Don't get into the habit of backing down when the going gets hard. Stick with it, make that thing shine, and then do everything it takes to share it with the world!
Thoughts? Comments? I'd love to hear them.
