It's that other time again... the time where I sit here and wonder if my writing sucks. No worries. It's a phase and part of the whole process. It's one I'd like to get rid of, frankly, but I'm not sure what kind of writer I'd be if I didn't doubt myself from time to time.
I mean, think about it. If you always thought that everything you did was without flaw, why would you ever feel the need to make it better? Why bother editing?
Of course, there's the other side of the coin... if you never feel it's free from flaws, why stop editing? Edit until it's perfect. Except it's never perfect.
Is this perfect? Oh, hell no. I'm not sure any good writer sends his work out into the world feeling it's perfect. Okay, maybe I can think of one, but she was a whole other level and she's dead, so I can't ask her if she was racked with doubt from time to time.
The key here is to balance the self-doubt with reality. Are my feelings of total suckage true or is this just a phase?
Repeat after me. You/I. Do. No. SUCK! Because you don't. Loved the hell out of this book. Was it perfect? No. That's what editors and proofreaders are for. I don't care how good a writer is, how much experience. There is always a need for editors and proofers because we're all human. And sometimes, the editors get it wrong too.
ReplyDeleteAnyway. As for the end? Don't change it if there's a possibility of a second Duke book and whatever is there to be discovered might in some way play into the plot of the next on. It's a tease but I'd stick around for the next book. Okay. I would anyway but you know what I'm sayin'. Anyway, I'm also saying that if whatever he might discover isn't pertinent to this book? Leave it a mystery to be solved in the next. Just my two cents after your email and reading this. 😁
PS. Did I mention I enjoyed the hell outta this book?
I second everything Silver wrote! Especially the last line!
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