The Trendsetter

As a writer you have to write and edit your manuscript. This is very tricky because you are first the author and then must switch positions to become the editor of what you’ve written. Ouch! This is too much painful work!

But the reality is this: you have to experience the process of editing your own work if you decide to be a writer. No exceptions and no easy way out because no one writes flawlessly the first time. And don’t even let me mention the business side of writing yet where you will confront the editor at your publisher.

I remember one of my fellow writer friends who told me she will get sick for a week right after she finishes her manuscript. Then she has to drag herself to edit the draft next. When I saw her during a writer’s conference she really looked like she was just recovering from an unknown disease.

How you do the editing task is up to you. Some writers will edit right after completing the manuscript, while others prefer to edit while writing. Whichever technique is best for you it is the editing process itself that takes the most out of you as a writer.

In my case, I usually will write a complete chapter and start editing it before I start writing the next. When I am writing, I am so involved with the characters and their problems I don’t realize I am writing a lot about how I feel. Then when I get back to the draft to edit, I am shocked to learn how bad is the writing. So I will always cut-out a lot of the fat to make the plot and writing style flow better. This is when I lose interest in writing the next chapter. Why? You may ask. I feel that I lost my self-esteem and confidence when I have to chop half of my writing. I feel betrayed since I spent a lot of time writing only to discard it the next day.

When you set your mind to become a writer, you don’t want to be told what to do. When starting out you have the highest amount of creative energy inside you - flowing all over like a river. You just need to pen it down or type it to see it take shape. Then, when it is time to edit your draft, you have to become a different person. You read with the rules in mind. You think like an editor and start to say a lot of the words you are not suppose to say. When I edit my writing, I tend to say things like,

“I don’t believe you wrote this!”

“I thought you know how to show and not tell or this is too much telling - revise it to make it show more, etc.”

But then, as a writer, your manuscript is like a bad lover who always deceives you. No matter how bad he/she hurts you, you still yearn to return to him/her the next day - at least that is how I feel. Sometimes, I hate the manuscript so much that I will not want to look at it again for a week. Then I think about the plot and the characters all the time and they are even visiting me in my dreams begging to be written. The next morning, I find myself perched on my chair, like Snoopy, reading each chapter on the computer screen.

Sigh!