The editing continues.  I suppose 80,000 words does take a while to edit.  I am currently on my third edit and starting to feel a little more comfortable with it.  It has been painful.  Cutting and re writing and then pasting in cut sections again!

The story line hasn’t changed too greatly but I am discovering that the beginning of the story is the greatest weakness in my writing, as it has been changed three times over.

I can say, however, I have a publisher interested in reading the full manuscript after reading the first twenty pages, which has given me hope.  Sometimes you question your dedication to writing, editing and re writing.  It is such a solitary exercise.  Having a writers’ group to meet with helps, however, I feel I have listened to their advice too closely, resulting in re writes.  We all need to remember to trust ourselves – believe in your own creativity.

Reading has been very productive over the past few months (probably because I have abandoned my blog, sorry) and I have read;

Rachel Cusk – Transit

Heather Rose – Museum of Modern Love and

Katherine Brabon – The Memory Artist

Elizabeth Strout – My Name is Lucy Barton

Ann Patchett – Commonwealth.

I have also read a couple of books by Nora Roberts and Karin Slaughter – books in the same genre as I am writing.  I would highly recommend reading Commonwealth, however, all the books in the list are excellent, in their own way.

I have learnt that you need to believe in yourself, don’t give up and have faith in your creativity.

And get started with editing.  It’s a bit like exercising, the thought of sitting down and cutting loads of words, re reading your own work and re writing is abhorrent, just like going for a run on a cold morning.  However, once you get started it is rewarding and more times than not, you persist with it and feel accomplished at the end.

My mantra lately has been;

“Put down everything that comes into your head and then you’re a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff’s worth, without pity, and destroy most of it.”

(Casual Chance, 1964)”
― Colette

“A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.”
― Richard Bach