I’d love to say I’ve been walking in the Highlands, sunning myself in Portugal or enjoying the craic in Ireland, but no, I’ve been somewhere much more intimidating and difficult. I’ve been immersed in the world of editing!
Who knew the editing journey would take so long? Well, apparently, everybody who has published independently, traditionally, or listened to sound advice knew exactly how long it takes. Unfortunately, I allowed optimism to stifle the voices of reason and experience: so here we are, some months down the line and still not published!
On the plus side, I have learned an awful lot about engaging the editor brain and the process of turning a first draft into something less cringeworthy. Ernest Hemingway nailed it really: he said, “The first draft of anything is sh*t.” So I’ve wrestled with story structure, character arcs, and the minutiae of line editing. My darlings have been cut down like ripe corn and the manuscript is all the better for it. Better, but not, in my opinion, perfect.
So there it is. The P word. I am now wrestling with the intractable foe, perfectionism. In all honesty, I’m trying to decide whether my current desire for perfection is rooted in simple procrastination, imposter syndrome, fear of failure and all the one-hundred and one other demons stalking those unwise enough to write. Tiffany Yates-Martin recently made a great blog post about inner demons (link here). I would never (knowingly) pass substandard material to my readers, but trying to make it perfect in every respect means it’s unlikely to be published.
So I made a deal with myself. One more read-through, because I owe it to my readers, and that’s it. I go with what I have and learn from feedback. Nearly four months of editing is enough. I’m passing the book out to some trusted compatriots, all with sharp eyes, keen brains, and strong stomachs. This advance guard will subject themselves to the full horror of my work and give me their opinions. Then I shall implement changes as required and publish (at last).
But what of the cover? I hear you ask. Thanks to the talented and infinitely patient Andrew Rainnie on Fiverr (link here) I now have covers for all formats of my book. You are the first to see them outside of Andrew and myself...
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| Paperback as it will arrive from Amazon |
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eBook as it will appear on a Kindle app |
