 |
| Image by Marco Buonvino |
Writing and revising—it’s an ongoing cycle and a necessary evil. Oftentimes, between writing and revising you have to face someone saying that you have failed or that your work is sub-par, and that what you have is not even worth the paper that it’s written on. A lot of times fear comes into play and we let it paralyze us.
Fear of the critique and fear of hearing "it's just not good enough" stops us from the crucial revision stage.
Assuming that you can overcome self-doubt and embrace constructive criticism, you have some revising to do. Revision translates to "see again." It is refining and polishing a fairly solid base. Keep in mind that you are not starting over from square one, and that alone is encouraging. Accept advice, get a fresh perspective on what you were attempting to say, and then re-write it.
And so the cycle begins again. re-submit, wait for the critique and so on. You may have to go through this tedious process a few times before you get it right for whoever is dedicating his/her time to your project. You can either look at it as a dreaded assignment or as developing your gift. The latter is what will allow you to work through the muddle and come out with a polished piece of work that you can be proud of.
Revision is not only correction, but it is also understanding that there are stepping-stones to reaching perfection.
Need help with writing, publishing, or marketing a book? thepublishingguru(at)gmail.com
Yes, I totally agree. Writing is a chore. Submitting is fear. And rejection can kill our spirit to try again. Don’t let this happen to you.
ReplyDeleteWrite every day if you can. Set a page limit or word limit and hit the mark everyday. A blog is a good place to write. This will help you build a writing muscle and confidence in your words and ability. I believe it.
Thanks for a good reminder of being persistent and turning away from our fear of rejection.