I used to dread editing, especially my first time with an Editor from my publisher. I worried about undoing their hard work, or not being able to raise myself up to their standards. Adding comments in the boxes made a nervous rash clamber up my neck.

Three years on with my publisher, and I’ve learnt so much. I believe I have a better eye for what the Editor is looking for. I edit a manuscript four or five times prior to sending it to the publisher, and yet I’m still happy to iron out kinks with the Editor. It feels such a positive experience.

I’ve begun editing a novel which is due out in May 2015, and it occurred to me how much I enjoy the process; I actually find it invigorating.

I sit at my laptop eagerly, ready to erase whole paragraphs and conversations which add nothing to the story, and don’t move it along. In my early days of editing, I feared such actions as I believed I wouldn’t be able to recreate such artistic prose; that I was erasing my artistic vibes. How I laugh at myself now, for thinking that.

 The early manuscripts of my novels are certainly not full of amazing prose, they need erasing,  re-writing, and perhaps changing direction altogether. I blush at remembering my early days of submitting to agents. i would read article like this, urging writers to re-write, leave the manuscript for a while before returning to it to edit. I couldn’t find the patience in me to do that back then, whereas now, I follow those guidelines and feel all the better for doing so.

I’m not preaching to you here, just reflecting on my own mistakes along the way. You will come to your own conclusion in your own time, just as I did.

I chose to edit at the moment as a break from writing the following novel. I find I sometimes need a break to cleanse my eyes, so I can see where the story is leading me. Editing, is offering me the head-space I need, without me frittering away my precious time doing nothing.

Happy Word Flow One & All