Bleeding on the Page

I'm here today to tell you one simple thing, one thing that very few writers actually have the guts to say or do.

Editing isn't the end of the world. It's not the end of your story, but the beginning. And it's not a problem to say that you can't do it on your own.

In fact, if you're a new writer and you're able to come right out and say that you need help with your work, I applaud you. It took me years to get there, and I'm not happy about it. I wish I'd asked for help earlier in the writing stage, that I'd sought advice and counsel from someone wiser and better attuned to this business than me.

But I didn't. And I regretted it for quite a while.

Yes, you're right, this is another plug for RAD Writing. Sort of.

Mostly, I'm here to tell you that if you're afraid of editing, or if you're too proud to admit that your work needs help and that you need a fresh set of eyes to look it over, it's time to hand over the reins.

We can't do it all ourselves.

Nobody's perfect: no first draft is a final draft.

No novel, short story, poem, etc, is ever done being edited.

There simply comes a point when it's ready to face the world, when the beauty and the errors have reached a point of equivalency and the story is fully prepared to be torn to shreds by the nearest teeny-bopper who loves to read.

That's why we're here. It's what we do.

We're here for that teeny-bopper, and we want them to read the best that we have to offer.

Finally, because I'd like to get off my high horse sometime soon (I don't like it up here, I feel far too tall and it's unseemly), I'll say this:

Yeah, editing can be annoying. Yeah, it can be painful. But it doesn't have to be. It's a moment for us to set aside whatever pride we might be hiding within us (because in case no one ever told you, pride is never a good thing) and let go of our work. It's a time for us to learn about the thing we love most, to discover how to make our work better than even we thought possible. It can be like pulling teeth, it can bring tears and make us want to shout in rage, but in the end, a book unedited is a book uncompleted, a book that was never allowed to reach its true goal in life.

And you'd be the one who never let it.

*whew* I can get down now.

That felt deeper than I intended, and I hope no one was offended. I'll discuss the problems of offense and pride in writers someday, I promise.

[love, hugs, and chai]

{RD}

p.s. That editing plug earlier mentioned... RAD Writing