I know I’ve been gone for a while — been working on polishing up my latest manuscript — and that is what I am here to discuss today.
When will revisions end?
After taking a deep developmental editing course that lasted TWO MONTHS, I am convinced that revisions NEVER end. EVER.
There is ALWAYS something to fix, reword, delete, and rethink. ALWAYS.
Maybe I am in this crappy mood because I want my book to be perfect — it will never be perfect.
At some point you have to take the thing as far as you can and then give it up. But how far is far enough? Or not enough? *sigh* That is the million dollar question.
I ask myself. Can you do more? Push it further? And I have to say, probably. But do I want to? And more importantly, do I need to?
The best thing for me to do right now is breathe. Put the book in a drawer, and come back later, because the last thing I want to do it put it out there too soon and have someone request and it’s not as good as it could be. Which brings us back to wondering if it could be better.
Gawd.
I have several author friends, who have agents, and they go through this, too. So it NEVER ends. EVER.
I know that the agent will (if they do edits) request revisions. And then when the book gets a publisher, their editor will request revisions, so why am I doing all this work?
It’s simple. I don’t want my book to be a burden, laden down with all kinds of basic stuff that should be fixed before I submit. I know these things but man is it tiring to do them!
OK, so the bottom line is, do the freakin’ revisions. Suck it up. Put it before your crit group. Take their advice. Read the darn thing OUT LOUD until it sounds sensible. Don’t throw in the towel.
You know what? I think it’s time for a walk…
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