So, I’m editing my third novel, Bleak Landing, which releases in August.
I’ve learned that I love the editing process more than the actual writing,
probably because you’re taking something you had to tear your hair out just to
get onto the page and now you’ve got help to polish it and make it much better.
I’m learning that a good editor is worth their weight in coffee pods—and not
the cheap kind.
The way it works is, I receive my
manuscript back from my development editor, Shari. What was once three hundred
plain, black-and-white, double-spaced pages is now a rainbow of Track Changes,
averaging three or more per paragraph. I’m eager to dig in, knowing I have about
two weeks to work my way through all Shari’s comments and suggestions and
return it. Then we do a second, shorter round the same way. A few weeks later,
I’ll get it back from the copy editor and go through the process one last time
before my baby is completely out of my hands.
Right now I’m in the middle of the
first round. Most of the time, it’s just a matter of clicking on either
“accept” or “reject” or choosing a more precise word. Sometimes it means
clarifying a whole sentence for the reader or deleting an unnecessary one. Sometimes
it’s verifying a historical element. Occasionally, Shari challenges me to
rework an entire scene to make it more engaging for the reader. She’ll write
something like, “This is a little pat/cliché. I know you can give me something
even stronger.” Or “I’m not sure this is convincingly romantic enough.”
If that challenge happens to come at
8:00 on a Friday night after I’ve met my obligation at my day job, grocery
shopped, made dinner, cleaned the kitchen, and already spent a couple of hours
editing at a desk that’s in desperate need of tidying and the pain in my shoulders is screaming for relief—I can get a little surly.
I want to yell at Shari, “You’re wrong, you tyrant! I can’t give you something stronger. This is it. I was proud of that scene! It’s the best I can do. So
shut up and leave me alone!”
Yeah, that’s when you know it’s time
to close the laptop and call it a day. Take your characters to bed with you and
pray they’ll show you better words by morning.
In the middle of this process, my
second book, Maggie’s War, is
launching—a bit of a timing misfortune on the publisher’s part. But I can’t
whine about it and still appear professional, especially when I’ve only just got my nose in the door of this business. So I’m juggling plans for three launch events,
radio interviews, and newspaper ads. I’m keeping track of receipts, preparing
speeches and door prizes, and responding to early reviewers. Oh yes, and it’s
really time to put up another blog post. And how can I answer questions about
the second novel when my head’s all wrapped up in the third? The characters and
situations are all muddled together.
Seems a bit much for a woman who
still can’t get through the day without a substantial nap.
But guess what? Lots of writers
would kill to have the problems I’m describing. I could have called this post
“Be careful what you wish for.” After all, I wanted this. Prayed for this. It
seems when God opens a flood gate, he does a thorough job. Sure, I could throw up my
hands and say “forget it.” I could return the manuscript just the way it is,
collect the remainder of my advance, and call it a career. The book would still be
published. Sales would be disappointing. Reviews would be dismal. A chance at
another contract would be gone. I could spend the rest of my life on the couch
watching Netflix or reading other writers’ books, ignoring the words on my
laptop’s wallpaper: “I want to see what happens if I don’t give up.”
It’s seven a.m. and I’ve had a
decent sleep. My desk is still a mess. The bathroom’s dirty and laundry waits.
I’ve got a book launch in three days. But I’ll go back and tackle that
troublesome scene because, deep down, I know Shari is right. I can do better. And I owe it to her, to
my readers, to myself, and most of all, to my Creator, to give it my very best.
But first, another cup of coffee. The cheap kind. Sigh.
“As iron sharpens iron, so one
person sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17
