Thank you Alex J. Cavanaugh for starting this group where us writers reveal our warts and cheer each other on. It's cheaper and more effective than therapy. It's not too late to join if you're interested. Just click on Alex's name and it'll take you to his blog.
I feel like a stuck record ... biting my nails with feelings of inadequacy. Probably what I talked about last month, too. Huh? It's deva ju. Yeah, I know the v and j are switched. The way I wrote it comes from a SG-1 episode. Any Stargate fans out there?
Oops, got distracted. Anyway, as I was saying, some days I just feel like I have no idea as to what I'm doing. I'm grateful I don't feel that way everyday. I have a suspicion I'm feeling that way now, because I'm getting closer to rolling out Stopover and it's making me nervous and seriously question whether it's ready for public consumption. I hate every sentence I write lately.
I also hope I can find an editor I can work with. Another source of stress. I worry I don't have that going right -- the editor thing. Maybe I need to say more, ask more questions. What do you do if you're unhappy with the editing you get? It's not about being corrected, I want to be corrected; it's what gets overlooked by an editor and isn't corrected that bothers me. I pay for that person to catch what I miss and to fix my commas and punctuation.
I know my comma usage is far from perfect. I'm not sure of my semi colon, colon and dash punctuation at times either. So, I really rely on an editor to get that right for me and I really need to rely on that person for longer work.
I know someone I trust to get all that right for me, the anxiety comes in as to whether I can afford the person I trust. I really hope I reach a point this year where costs won't be so much of an issue. Yeah, I worry a lot. The theme of this post ... And it's one of the major reasons I write -- writing sends all those stresses to the background where they belong.
Despite all this jabbering, you know what? I'll overcome all the doubts and insecurities and I'll publish The Backworlds, Stopover at the Backworlds' Edge, and The Augmentation of Hetty Locklear this year. I always get past them ... until the next time. This time will be no different. I'll inhale a deep breath and I'll publish and I'll keep going.
So what worries are on your plate this January? Any advice on working with editors? What do you do when the "every sentence sucks" blues come around?
