Renewal

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What is it about the first day of Spring that brings a sense of renewal and hope? After all, it’s mostly a calendar event- the weather today here in Utah is cloudy and a bit cold (at least for me). And I haven’t seen any crocuses yet. Aren’t those pretty though? I did take that picture three years ago, which is proof of Spring flowers on the first day of Spring.

I have been deep in revisions lately, and that’s a sort of renewal as well. I know a lot of writers don’t particularly like the editing process, but, for me, it’s almost as fun as writing the first draft. Now I get to go through it again and find new ways to say the same things in a better way- deleting some lines in one place, adding new paragraphs in other places. Finding the perfect word to convey the right emotion.

I’m also taking the feedback I got already and I’m making my characters and their story better. It’s all about the details, for me, and these are easier to see in the second, third, or whatever number of read-throughs I do. Combined with the comments from beta-readers, it adds another dimension to the work I’m doing. It’s so extremely easy to miss important elements of the story, to forget to show the reasons behind my characters’ actions, to be redundant with aspects that are not interesting- they’re easy to miss because I know them. I’ve been writing, reading, thinking, dreaming, and breathing this story for so long, that I forget, or plain don’t know, what works and what doesn’t. So I love to have new eyes read it (and hopefully begin to like it too) and give me that feedback. It’s a part of the process that I like because it’s bringing me closer to the goal of having a story published, the best story I can make, and have out there. And I’m immensely lucky to have beta-readers who are some of my favorites authors in the genre. Couldn’t ask for more.

In between the readings and rewritings, sometimes I need a break and I read, which in the end only makes me a better writer. (I haven’t been on Goodreads for too long, but you’re welcome to look me up there.)

So on this first day of Spring, I’m reading and re-reading chapters fifteen and sixteen and working on a flashback to make it more personal and immediate. I guess I could have named this post “The importance of revisions and editing, and why feedback can’t be skipped”. 😉

How do you feel about the editing process?

 

 

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