Picture this.
You have a great idea for a story. You spend weeks, months, or years writing it, devoting countless hours and immeasurable energy to the project. Finally, you reach those magical words: The End.
Now what?
You know the manuscript needs work, but you’re so exhausted that the prospect feels
like cruel torture. The thought of waiting even one more day to share your story with the world is equally unappealing. You want it done and you want it done now.
So you tell yourself that your first draft is good enough (you hate revising anyway), and you send your book to print. Or you Google “editor” and hire the first result, crossing your fingers that she’ll
perfect the manuscript for you. Or you send out for a proof, thinking grammar is all that needs attention.
On the day you hold your finished work in your hands, you’re disappointed instead of elated. Your story has plot holes you hadn’t noticed, your main character is flat, and the text is riddled with typos. What happened to the high-quality piece of writing you
envisioned?
You think, This is what I bent over backwards for?!
Not a pretty picture. Unfortunately,
this sort of thing happens all the time. I know because I talk to these writers every day: disappointed writers, frustrated writers, regretful writers who wish they could travel back in time and do it all differently.
Rather than lamenting the impossible, let’s learn from our mistakes.
