The Disheartening and Difficult Process of Editing
I am worried about the state of my novel. I have been advised, very positively, to edit. Edit edit edit, so that’s what I am doing.
Quite rightly, a novel is like one’s baby. Editing it is one of the most painful things a writer can do, but also one of the kindest.
However, as I hack away at the text, chopping sentences, rewriting sentences, moving entire paragraphs I can’t help but find doubt creeping in.
Is it any good? Is it an exciting story? Have I written a page turner? What if it’s rubbish? What if I’ve wasted all this time on a project that’s just basically not any good? What if no one likes the story?