Editing and other strange hobbies
If you have never written a full length manuscript or even begun to write one, you may not comprehend the enormity of the task.
When I first started my novel I had an idea that tugged at me write it down. Putting the words to paper was the easy part. At least it seems so now when I look back! As I worked through the beginning I learned that an outline was a good idea. That job was fairly easy since I knew where I wanted my character to go. Finally I finished the novel and then came the query process to find an agent. Which, although incredibly time consuming, is not too daunting a task.
What does take up my time these days? Editing, editing and more editing. I wish I could say that I wrote it perfectly the first time. That would be a lie. Despite having read it myself from cover to cover at least one hundred times, I still find issues every time I read it again. This is dismaying because I seem able to find the one mistake in someone else's novel on the very first read.
If your goal is to write a best selling novel or even if you are writing a one paragraph email, editing may be the single most important part. How many times have you whipped off a reply to someone only to realize you made what could amount to a vital mistake?
The moral of this story - take the time to slow down and edit your work. I believe you will find the extra effort well worth the time spent.
As for the "other strange hobbies" mentioned in the subject of this post, I suppose I'll save those for another day after I edit this blog post (for the third time).
Leslie
When I first started my novel I had an idea that tugged at me write it down. Putting the words to paper was the easy part. At least it seems so now when I look back! As I worked through the beginning I learned that an outline was a good idea. That job was fairly easy since I knew where I wanted my character to go. Finally I finished the novel and then came the query process to find an agent. Which, although incredibly time consuming, is not too daunting a task.
What does take up my time these days? Editing, editing and more editing. I wish I could say that I wrote it perfectly the first time. That would be a lie. Despite having read it myself from cover to cover at least one hundred times, I still find issues every time I read it again. This is dismaying because I seem able to find the one mistake in someone else's novel on the very first read.
If your goal is to write a best selling novel or even if you are writing a one paragraph email, editing may be the single most important part. How many times have you whipped off a reply to someone only to realize you made what could amount to a vital mistake?
The moral of this story - take the time to slow down and edit your work. I believe you will find the extra effort well worth the time spent.
As for the "other strange hobbies" mentioned in the subject of this post, I suppose I'll save those for another day after I edit this blog post (for the third time).
Leslie
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