When this blog posts, I will be in California at the Left Coast Lesbian Conference (LCLC), co-presenting a workshop on editing your manuscript for submission.
I will also be doing a reading, and as I reviewed Twice Bitten to see what I wanted to read, I realized that in the short time since I last worked on that book, I have grown as a writer. And it remains true that we all, as we write more and more, grow as writers. Assuming, of course, that we pay attention as we go along and take advice from other seasoned writers.
I was reading through some the chapters and I groaned. I wish I could go back and change a few things. This is the reason why it’s a bad idea to read your own stuff, because chances are that you will find faults with it and if you are unable to revise it, it will drive you crazy. It’s best to just step away.
It’s very difficult to edit ourselves, even for professional editors. We’re too close to it—to the writing, the characters, the motivations, everything. For this reason, it’s imperative to have someone else—preferably an editor— look at your work before you submit it.
But there are other things that we can and should do to polish up our manuscripts and I will be sharing those tips at LCLC. When I get back, I post some of those tips here.
I hope everyone has a great weekend.
R.G. Emanuelle 