I’m starting to understand those feelings that I have so often read about from many others. That Old “Editing Feeling”. You know, the one you get when you have sent your ‘baby’ – your manuscript to the editor to start the process of what Stephen King likes to call “murder your darlings”. When I opened up the sample chapter I had forwarded to my editor before submitting the whole MS, and saw all those ‘red marks’, chop this, cut that, it hurt. I know I was prepared for such slashings, but none-the-less it still hurt. There were some good moments through it though, particularly when one page could get scathed by with no markings, that felt victorious. So as I await my work to come back to me in the next week, I am preparing for the work I will have cut out for me. I just wanted to share my feelings of the ‘first coming’ and let you all know that no matter what must be done, you are going to feel pain. Just a thought.
DGKaye©2013
DGKayewriter.com 
I know the feeling. I’ve joined writer’s groups and taken writing classes and been chopped and bled over with red ink. I think I’ve grown a thicker skin for it but I wonder if the feeling every really goes away. 😀
Thanks for sharing Debby. I enjoy coming here.
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From what I read around town here, I don’t think it ever does but that is what keeps us constantly striving. I’m so glad you come by and share your views Tess, it’s so nice to communicate with someone who understands the grind! 🙂
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I think that I’ve been spoiled! When I was in High School… After my Freshman English class, I had a teacher that put me in an Independent Study class. All I had to do was write! It was wonderful but I didn’t learn some of the mechanics of writing… punctuation etc… as well as I could have… but I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything! Then when I went to college… I got 101+ on Essays that I handed in that was total BS… I had no idea what I was writing but it sounded good and my teachers bought it! So I began to think hmmmm I can BS my way through anything… except writing a book… why I have been dragging my feet I think… my friend’s son was a STAR golfer of our local High School when he went to college… he just realized that he was just a very good golfer in a little town but found himself in a big University with a bunch of GREAT golfers… I think that even just this blog has made me realize Editing sucks! There are a lot of GREAT writers out there! What makes me think that I can write a book????? 😦 😉
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Diane, first of all, don’t even say such a silly thing, You are a beautiful writer and anyone who reads your work knows it. Stop beating yourself up needlessly. Of course your essays were praised because you have the gift of writing. But let me point out that teachers are NOT editors. They were looking at the beautiful way you write, not the nitty gritty editing details. They are not editors. Nobody is exempt, even the high end traditionally published author’s work goes through a grinding process of editing, no matter how good a writer they are. New Indie authors such as myself who are learning the ropes of how to make a book with every bit of finesse that a traditionally published book has, learns that no matter how much we ‘love’ what we wrote, to be right up there with the best of the books and to not be classified as a wannabe writer throwing out there, half assed work, it has to be clean. We are writers, we are not editors! We write the beautiful words and the editors make our words more beautiful and clean, that is what they do, don’t be afraid. Just write your book, revise it several times (mine took a few months as I like to let it marinate so that when I looked at it again, I saw it with different eyes). Make it the best you can, and then send it to the editor so they can make it better. This is how all books are born. Good books! My book is currently, finally at my editor and when I get it back and make her changes, guess what? I have booked a second editor, with new eyes to polish it off. You know you can ask me anything!
xoxoDeb
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