During the last few months I haven't been doing much writing. As a result I've had more time on my hands and have been able to offer critiquing to my author friends. I've been critiquing for a while now and one of the things I've found to be a pattern is that as writers we often get sick to death of reading our own novels over and over. It was only when a friend of mine mentioned this about her novel that it clicked to me why I haven't been able to keep writing: I am sick of reading my own work. I am sick of editing the same thing time after time. I rewrote Poison eleven times before I was happy with the plot and structure. I edited it another four times after critiques. By the time it was published, I really just wanted to set fire to the MS and be done with it.
I'm so happy that I've finally figured this out because it means that it's not writing that I cannot stand. It's the editing process. Which is a problem but since I've done it once I suppose I can do it again.
I'm tired of reading my own book after many, many edits and I do like the revision step. Now you know and can adjust for it.
ReplyDeleteAnd I've only once read one of my own books after publication. That was because my publisher offered a couple of us a chance to go back and revise. I cringed the whole time...
I hear you! I hate editing. I'm sorry you're not doing much writing but I'm happy to hear you're helping your friends out. I'm sure your critiques are very helpful. Hang in there with the editing.
ReplyDeleteSet fire to it! LOL! Yes, I know exactly what that feels like. And by the time I'm doing a final revision, I practically have the thing memorized and can no longer see typos. My eyes just get glazed and skip over them... But I bet your CPs are happy about getting crits even if you're on a break from writing. Good luck getting back in the saddle again! :)
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you rewrote Poison eleven times! That's a lot. After all that, who wouldn't get sick to death of it? That happens to me, too, if I'm spending a lot of time on something. Taking breaks might help, even if very long ones. Maybe before editing a MS, take a very long break before getting back to it.
ReplyDeleteI think it's also harder to edit our own work. It's mundane, but reading others' work is like reading a new book, even if it's still unedited!
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