Emotional Editing

Ever looked at something you wrote and thought, "Oh my god! This is complete crap"? That is how I am feeling today. I managed to finish a first draft of my book and am gearing up to start the editing process. I always try to give myself a few days between when I finish a piece and when I start editing to help keep myself from "emotional editing." "Emotional Editing" is when I edit before I have managed to separate myself from my words. At this point, I am usually far too hard on myself and delete things that should not be deleted. As you might imaging, this eventually leads to frustration and disappointment. So, here's to making my first pass at editing my manuscript.

Repressing my Internal Editor

One of professors used to tell us to do whatever it took to just write through the first draft of any of our work. I am finding it extremely difficult to restrain my internal editor as I attempt to simply finish a first draft. I am currently stuck at 425 words and cannot figure out what to write next.

I have resolved to finish putting words down on the paper, er screen, until I have finished a first draft, even if the words are crap. Hopefully, the next few hours will bring a sudden breakthrough. In any case, my goal is to have my first draft done by Friday. Wish me luck!

I Want to Write a Children's Book. Now What?

I've always wanted to write a book. I take that back. I have always wanted to write a book that would be published and available at bookstores around the country. I finally figured that there is no time like the present, so I have officially started writing a children's book. Do I know what I'm doing? Not really, but I am ready to figure it out.

So here I will record the journey that my writing takes as I attempt to write and find a home for my book. Advice, criticism (constructive please), and encouragement are always welcome.