You know how they say books are not written but rewritten? Ain't dat de truth!
Recently, Jackson Pearce edited my manuscript. What I got back was 13 pages of horror. I mean, I can't say enough how much I loved having her edit my book. But let me tell you, she did an amazing job of tearing my book apart. Now, when I went to college and got my degree, I minored in editing and publishing and one of my professors said when you edit you need to tear it to shreds, and that is precisely what Jackson did. However, she just enabled me to see what I was doing wrong and how I can fix it.
Also, however, I need to do a lot of reworking and fixing. Jackson suggested that I just start completely over with a new outline and new ideas. That scares me. Not that I haven't considered it, but it is such a daunting task. I spent four months writing that book and to think about spending another four or so months on a whole new outline for it, I feel as though I wasted four months. But then again, I could look at it as spending four months learning from my mistakes and how to fix them. I don't know.
So now I have all these thought and conflicting opinions. A friend from college has read my book and thinks I don't need to start over, that I can work with what I have and fix it, even though it will be difficult. Jackson says to start over. Another friend says I can work with what I have. However, one of my friends who told me to work with what I have is not a writer and the other is a writer but isn't as dedicated to it as I am. And Jackson is a published author with 7 books under her belt. I have recently reached out, via Maggie Stiefvater's blog to find a critique partner. I believe that having someone who is also a writer and knows what I am going through will be a bit help.
So, if you are a writer or want to be a writer, think long and hard about it, don't quit your day job, and be prepared for a lot of time spent rewriting! After all, books aren't written, they are rewritten.
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