If somebody asks which part of my writing process I enjoy most, I say in all sincerity, “Oh, ____, for sure” (whichever phase I’m currently in). I mean, it’s impossible for me to pinpoint why I’m so eager to write for the lion’s share of my scarce free time & even sleep time.

But the following might shed some light on the depth of my dedication—some might argue addiction or delusion—when it comes to writing.

After finishing what I’d hoped would be one of the last proofread run-throughs on my latest novel, I made a firm decision to refrigerate it & work on the promotional side of things for its upcoming release this summer.

But then I thought, “Hey, maybe I’ll just pretend somebody else wrote it & read it for fun.”

After two chapters without noticing any flaws, I found a word repeated in close proximity & then a few pages later decided some peat-repeat fairy dust must’ve floated on the wind to sprinkle itself hither & yon.

I mean, repetition can be effective in poetry & song, but I find it annoying as hell in my prose. It’s one of the legitimate reasons many writers are dropping dialogue tags like a bag of rocks the way I have (She said; He replied; They yelled…).

So I promptly did a belly flop right back into the middle of the editing pool, so to speak.

See what I mean? I’m so hopelessly enmeshed to the entire writing process—including the minutiae of the dreaded editing phase—that I embrace it all.

I’m even conning myself into taking a deep dive into the gator-infested promotional swamp of self-publishing with a smile on my face—OK, with no scowl on my face anyway.

Keep you posted.

Drew

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