My Journey to Publication: The Editing Process

Back in February of this year, I announced on Triond that I was going to go on a writing sabbatical in order to get a good foundation written for my debut novel. And while I set high expectations of a completed manuscript (rough draft) by the end of my week in seclusion without fully reaching my target, I was still able to get more written on my novel in a week’s worth of time than most.

After my week in seclusion, I wrote a follow-up article explaining what all I learned during my sabbatical. I received various comments on my report ranging from congratulations on the amount I was able to accomplish to reminders that writing is a process and cannot always be forced. All were appreciated.

And for the next three months, I continued to work on completing the rough draft of my novel, but no where near at the speed I was able to get done in that tiny hotel room. However, I did not quit. Once a week, I would update my seemingly creeping progress on my blog.

There were days of full chapter inspiration. There were days of staring at the computer screen frustrated that no new words came flowing through my fingers. There were days of rereading through what I had already written, editing. There were days of no writing at all.

Then on May 27, something happened….

I wrote the last word of my rough draft.

It took a minute or two for the reality of it to sink in. I even said aloud (to no one other than myself, of course), “I’m done.”

There was relief – at least for a moment.

Then I realized it was time for the next phase of the writing process to begin – the editing process. And in a flood of emotion, the relief vanished, replaced with an overwhelming fear. Now I would have to hand over my manuscript to the four people I had already hand-picked to edit my work. For seven months I have been the only person to see what I have written. Now four more pairs of eyes will be allowed into this world of mine.

And it’s both an exciting and scary time for me. Will my writing be good enough? Will they find all of the mistakes I made? Will they still talk to me afterwards?

We’ll soon see because as of today all of my editors now have a copy of my manuscript to edit, to mark up in red ink, post sticky notes on questionable areas, rip to shreds.

And in a few weeks, I’ll get the chance to pick up the pieces and make, hopefully, a piece of beauty out of the chaos.

Here’s to waiting………