There’s one job that is always a pain when it comes to writing. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of things associated with writing is a pain. Like…writer’s block. Imposter’s syndrome. Low/no sales. Unruly and/or unreliable characters.Writing blurbs (my personal demon). Research (yes, falling down the rabbit hole can hurt when it turns into a time suck.) What have I missed? Cramping hands? Back aches? Swollen ankles from sitting at the computer all day? Yes, yes, and yes. What have I missed? Oh. Yeah. Editing. The Universe popped in yesterday and made this suggestion.
In time and space, Silver, if you just look for what’s right—in others, in relationships, in yourself, and in your journey—you’ll always find it.
Same when looking for what’s wrong.
Tallyho,
The Universe
©www.tut.comP.S. Now that’s perfection, Silver.
If you equate “journey” with manuscript and “others,” “relationships,” and “yourself” with plot, characters, and your words, you have a way of looking at the editing process. Sometimes, we spend so much time looking for what is wrong in our writing that we forget to look for–and appreciate–what’s right about it. I’ve known more than a few “would-be” writers. I say “would-be” because they’ve never published. They’ve never even let someone else read their work yet they profess to the desire to be publsihed authors. I also know published authors who edit a piece to death–quite literally. By they time they’ve “finished,” they toss the project because it falls flat.
Is there a happy medium? Absolutely. And the Big U pointed it out above. Look FIRST for what is RIGHT. Then fix what is wrong–the typos, the misuse of a word or phrase, an oops in the timeline or character reference. We need to learn to celebrate what we’ve written, to bask in the glow of the story and keep that feeling throughout the editing process. It’s a challenge. Are you up for it?
Silver James 
Wonderful ♥️
It makes good sense.
I hope you got more rain. The front came through here like they predicted, around 1:30am. We just had a tons of rain and strong winds. 10 miles south of here had additional hail and tornadic winds. One house was struck by lightning and is a total loss. As you said, I wish the storms would come through in the daylight rather than over night.
Have a nice day!
Night storms really do wreck sleep cycles, not to mention how far more dangerous they are. Glad y’all just got rain. We did get some rain this morning–about 1/2 an inch. Not much compared to the Mississippi Valley but we’ll take every drop we can get, especially when it’s just rain. Hope you’ve had a good day and maybe got a little extra rest.
Thank you for encouraging us to look for what’s right in our writing. I am guilty of looking for what’s wrong more often than looking for what’s right. In the past this has led to me not sharing my writing or convincing myself I’m not good enough. I’m in a season where I’m pushing past fear of failure to see what could happen if I just try. I found your piece encouraging. It’s good to know I’m not alone 🙂
Good luck to you! And keep pushing. You are NOT alone, Jeanine. And you’re welcome. Looking at the “wrong” side is something we all do. I also needed the reminder. One more piece of advice. Enjoy your writing/publication journey. It it breathtaking, frustrating, scary, and so very worth everything we go through. ❤