I finished the first draft of my work in progress (WIP from here on out) in December and sent it off to my editor! Waiting for her to return it was liberating. I didn't have to work on it at the moment. I could write ANYTHING. After toiling away for years and making little progress, I was thrilled to be rid of it for a couple months.
But I was also checking my email constantly, waiting to hear back from my editor. Did she love it? What if she didn't love it? What if it was so terrible that she was going to tell me to scrap the whole thing, tell me to lose her number, and never write again?!
When she finally (actually pretty quickly, but don't tell my writer-heart that) got in touch, the flood of emotions bubbled up again. The message pinged on my phone.
"Hey. I have a question about your story when you have a minute."
Gulp. "I'm around."
"I don't know how to say this so I don't hurt your feelings, but..." My stomach dropped. I wanted to give up. I would never be a writer ever. I should stick to editing, stay in my lane. That's what I'm good at. Then I took a breath and read the rest of the message.
"...how do you feel about doing a manuscript evaluation instead of the Dev Edit?"
Oh. That's...not bad at all.
"That's a great idea." A sense of calm rolled through me as I messaged back. even excitement.
A little over two weeks later and I had the feedback that I needed to begin the next draft.
The editing process can be a scary journey, but it turns out, it's a good one. I've never had so much clarity and direction. I'm not even disappointed that I need a full rewrite, because this is going to make my book so much better. As of now, I have the outline and worldbuilding guide finished at about 12k words. Next up, chapter 1! I'm sure that won't be stressful at all.
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