For the love of reading, get an editor!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again and again until I stop being a writer (that’s until death do us part), EDITORS ROCK! Let me amend my comment by adding the adjective, GOOD, because bad editors are useless.

I just finished going through a round of edits for two of my books and they were tough. All because my editors were sharp eyed and not afraid of those pesky things called feelings that I may or not possess. Were they mean? Absolutely not. Did they bruise my pride a little – maybe a tiny bit because isn’t my writing perfect when it comes straight from my head? I’m joking (mostly).

Editors catch the big and little things that a writer misses. I have a tendency to forget that not everyone is as privileged as me to reside in this wonderful brain of mine so I may skip a step or three to get to the point I want to make.

I’m good at English. After all I passed all my Regents English classes in high school with honors. But there are things you forget that an editor picks up. Hyperbole anyone? I had to look it up when my editor mentioned it.

If I were to advise any Indie author about publishing a book, it would be to get a fantastic editor. It may not be cheap, but it’ll be worth it when people don’t trash your books for having too many repetitive words, adverbs, characters whose names you changed, and chunks of information that drag the story down.

A huge round of applause to the editors in my life. Past, present, and future.

Writing is fat inducing work #writing

Writing can be difficult. 

Technically I don’t find the writing aspect of being an author to be the hard part. It’s the dag on second, third and fourth drafts, and the editing process that I find difficult.

When I’m writing the ideas seem to flow out of my fingers onto the keyboard. Sometimes I don’t want to stop writing, while other days, well, I don’t want to start.

To be honest, making corrections to my work is what adds a few more pounds. In order to procrastinate the torture of the duty, I tend to eat, and eat, and eat some more. I really need to find a new way of dealing with the stress editing brings before three hundred pounds creeps up on me one day.

Of course I love the end result of the effort I put into a piece, but the process is so much work that while I’m going through it I wonder why I don’t just read books instead of writing them.

And then I remember why I write. Because it’s cool as hell that I can (huge smiley face).

What about you? Is writing a pure pleasure for you?