Editing

Editing. Revising. Rewrites. Whatever you want to call the process it takes time.

Since I finished my query I decided to take the time to go over my first ten pages to ready them for submission.

I prepared myself. I had a notebook and pen, my original pages and the suggestions of my QT friend. I was set.

And then my mind went blank so I procrastinated.
I went on the Query Tracker forum. I checked my emails. I caught up on my Sky+ episodes of Scrubs and Glee.

Then it hit me. I was trying so hard not to cut words from my MS I was at a standstill. Then I remembered a quote from Finding Forrester:
"The first draft you write with your heart. You rewrite with your head."

I've been past the first draft stage for a while now but there was still a small part of me that was rewriting with my heart. I kept thinking if I edited out/changed certain things I was failing. But it's the smart thing to do. Cutting one of my favourite lines felt like torture...but I did it and I survived.

So with each edit I become a little bit braver. A bit more confident. And hopefully a better writer.

And if worst comes to worst I caught up on my TV programmes for this week.