On becoming a writer…

“If I had my career over again? Maybe I’d say to myself, speed it up a little.”

–JIMMY STEWART

When and how does a person know when it is time to actually publish his work…whether it is self-published or published by a traditional or ebook publisher? One peculiar problem I’ve faced is tweaking my work…checking…tweaking and re-tweaking some more…etc. Putting my work away for a few weeks after completing a particularly daunting chapter or two has given me better insight into the changes I’ve done or changes I’ve needed to do. Changes that were good…some that were bad. But, acting as your own editor cannot and should not be considered be the best route.

I believe this shows that using an editor to go over one’s work, to point out areas that need additions or others that need cutting back, are very important to the creative writing life. Don’t act as your own editor and don’t ask a close family member or close friend to be your final editor. Find someone who is well-versed in the editing of your genre. Being your own editor can leave your work severely lacking or, worse yet, confusing and choppy. A close friend or relative cannot always honestly judge your work to the point of perhaps giving a scathing review of the work at hand.

Do you hire someone to edit your work? Perhaps have an in-house publishing company editor? Or can you handle self-editing? This is one more phase of the writing process I am interested in these days.

Writing and tweaking!

KW