“You may not write well every day, but you can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” ~~Jodi Picoult
This is kind of a play on last week about the first draft. It does not have to be perfect. And, as February comes to a close and March means, for some, Camp NaNoWriMo prep for April, I feel like this needs to be driven home more and more. And, I have a few quotes like this planned for the coming weeks.
Editing is important. And, it’s a long process. There are several rounds of self-edits. Some writers recruit critique partners to help with the grammar and spelling. And, beta-readers to help point out plot inconsistencies or obvious hints of a coming twist.
AND THEN you send your manuscript to a pro and pay them money to point out all the mistakes you and your readers and partners missed. But, as I said in the Authorpreneur post last week, you cannot skimp on that. You may as well hold a neon sign above your book saying “1 Star Reviews Welcome. Especially Trolls.” But, in the end, through all the sweat and tears and self doubt and drowning in red ink, your book will be the best it can be and your readers will love it.
I’m not saying it will be easy. It will be hard. And, no matter how thick your skin is, someone might say something that will hurt. I had a moment a while back where I was just in a bad emotional place and someone gave criticism on my query letter draft and I broke down and cried. But, the importance is picking yourself up, dusting yourself off, and getting back to work. Someone reminded me to focus on the positive feedback I’ve received and that will help keep going.
That’s all for now. Keep an eye out for the second overview of the “Authorpreneur Series” I attended this past weekend. I’ll be talking about it tomorrow. If your interested in my Patreon page, I have all kinds of awesome new content coming. I’m focusing on that this week, even if it means scheduling a bunch of stuff in advance. I have character profiles and more in the works. And, I hope you’ve signed up for my mailing list. (there should have been a pop-up when you arrived at this blog) The next one is going out on March 5. I think I’ve finally figured out my layout.
Talk to you later!