I’ve edited my MG manuscript sooo many times since the first draft from way back when. Years ago. At first it was whenever I could fit it in, now I spend much more time.

I finished another edit a month ago. I smiled. Does anyone else smile at their screen after finishing a “terrific” edit/re-write?

With each draft, a sense of having finally arrived makes me feel so good. I did it! It’s the one. This one works. I put it aside, dreaming about the publishing part. No. That would be more like having a nightmare, wouldn’t it?

After a week or more of being busy doing stuff needing to be done, I open the manuscript, giving it a peek.

What! An error? On the first page? No. Who did this?  Me? Drat.

May as well re-read. Just in case. I know this is a one-time thing.  Wait. A typo here. And there. One chapter disappeared! No it got moved down three chapters. I can’t believe I did that. But I remember adding more scenes, that was what happened. I forgot having moved that chapter out of sequence.

Drat, drat. Let’s get back to Chapter one.

Two weeks later, I finished. Good thing I happened to peek. Not only did I fix those errors… and all the others that followed, I changed a few things to make my characters more interesting, added more detail about the setting, and I improved the dialogue between characters, working on character arc.

My mantra:
I’ve edited my MG manuscript sooo many times since the first draft. I just finished another. I smile. Does anyone else smile at their screen after finishing a “terrific” edit/re-write?

A sense of “having finally arrived” makes me feel so good. I did it! It’s the one. This one works.

Now I need to get to bed. Let’s keep the nightmares at bay.

My characters have the patience of  Job, waiting for me to notice them again. We get along pretty good.

What is your editing/re-writing like? I’d like to know I am not alone.