The Edits Arrive . . .

They’re here! The edits from my editor. I was pretty darned excited. Okay, not the most eloquently written, but you get my point. This is my first go round on having a paid professional critique my work. (Yes, a few published authors had read it and my Critique Partners have lavished their attention over it—but those people know me, and somewhat like me.) This professional and her invaluable opinion needed to be brutally honest and totally objective so I could produce the best book possible.

Was I nervous to open the document? Um . . . of course. What if she bled red ink across my beloved manuscript pages? DOUBLE scored scads of witty dialogue or great introspection.

But an unopened document is rather like an unopened Christmas package—no matter what’s inside, I had to peek.

So, I downloaded my edits and now, it’s time for learning curve #4083. Okay, maybe not that many, but surely, it’s a HUGE number as I’ve been learning the writing business since Moses was still playing in the dirt.

Learning curve or not, now, it’s back to work and delving into what my editor thinks is the best way to handle a sentence or straighten out a confusing passage.

It is nice to have fresh eyes on the pages. I’ve read these words so many times, I can’t determine where reality and dreams meet.

Six months has gone by since I really looked at the manuscript. It was great to start the read again. I remembered why I’d liked these characters, how much I cared about what happened to them, and how much I wanted the happy ending.

That felt good, accomplished. If I can still want to know about this story (after a zillion rewrites) then hopefully, the reader will find it even more entertaining and enthralling.

I will have done my job well, if that happens.

Here’s back to the edit and hoping . . . for happy endings.