Embrace the Editing Process

When I originally wrote the Author's ABC's I stated E was for "edit again". I have since added "embrace" because it gives that added umph to the challenge. As a writer, embrace means to open your eyes, your heart and your mind wide enough to recognize just how unpolished the manuscript may actually be. I met a well known novelist at a writers conference who said he personally edits each of his novels 30 times! I wondered if he was exaggerating, or perhaps obsessive. But eighteen months, fifteen complete edits, and 17,000 less words later, I think I'm beginning to understand. Or maybe I, too, have become obsessive about my work.