so, this is it???

Anti-climatic.
That’s how it felt.

I finished the first draft of my first novel at 9:03 last Sunday evening.
I started editing at 9:05.

My vacation was intended to be a week of hard-core-get-this-novel-finished-writing.
It evolved to a week of editing.

Editing felt glorious when I was in the midst of novel development.
This week, it felt different.
I sent an email to my writing mentors, asking for support.

I had no idea what affliction I had. It simply felt strange.
Billie (as usual) had the answer.

Purgatory, she said. That's editing.
We love to hate it and hate to love it, for …
what if we stay here forever?

That’s exactly it, sister.

And the lists I’ve created for myself:

- eliminate non-stellar adjectives and adverbs
- ensure your timelines are consistent
- without mercy, remove the words: very, much, really, and just
- and for crying out loud, stop making your characters “nod”, “smile weakly”, “gesture” and say the words “I mean” ….

… this is a tenth of my list.

Truly, on some days it has felt like torture.

But I still come back for more.
So, on some level, I must love it.
That's one thing about this craft -- it's never boring.