Nothing like coming up with a new title & a finalized book description within a few days of each other. That’s what I get for spending hours & hours on the two of them, especially the latter. It’s crazy how challenging it can be to winnow a book description down to 500 characters—note, dear reader, that’s 500 characters not words. (Just for the sake of comparison, this first paragraph including this aside clocks in at 427.)
A journalist I am not.
Anyway, what I find most interesting at this point in my process is how dogged I get about revising. I’ve heard some people lament the time they spend tediously reworking a passage before sending it off to an editor or “fixing” something before a turnaround. But considering I’ve never had the luxury of an editor’s advice, I’m on my own—which among other things means I can keep nudging my flimsy deadlines forward whenever it seems wise or I simply feel like it.
Of course, that also means I’m dependent on my internal editor currently driving the bus and careening around potholes & avoiding drop-offs along the proofreading road leading to the destination resort of No More Revisions.
But I have to admit, a part of me actually enjoys this final phase, tediousness be damned. Maybe it’s because I’m giving myself free rein to enjoy it since my internal editor knows this road like the proverbial draft horse heading for the barn.
I’ll keep you posted.
Drew
