Life by Chance has been sitting on the cyber shelf for months now. I’ve complained for sometime that my own life has gotten in the way of my budding writing career. I was able to put two books out in ten months when I was staying at home and my only written doctor’s orders were to not get fat and not eat Oreo cookies in bed. As if! Mmmmm, cookies–
So, I opened my cyber shelf and pulled out the book to start edits. I had already edited the first so many chapters a few months back, so I started where I left off. Something amazing happened! I was so enthralled by this story line that I forgot to edit. Two chapters in, I was blubbering like a wounded child. My own story made me cry. Holy cow.
It had been so long since I wrote it that I forgot just how intense and wonderfully dark it was. I text Glenn just to announce that I was an amazing writer. Not to toot my own horn but beep beep.
Once I wiped my eyes dry, I went back to do the editing. Something amazing happened! I realized that my grammar and my creative writing skills were at the opposite ends of the “amazing” spectrum. I was blubbering like a wounded child. My own story made me cry . . . at just how much professional editing is going to cost me. Holy cow.
How do you feel after rereading your manuscript that has been shelved for a while? I’m loving all the Twitter and FB responses so far.
Tania L Ramos RN, Author whose day job pays for editing
Cover design concept by Mariano
New Author Publishing 
My grammar and my creative writing skills also at opposite ends of the “amazing” spectrum. So is my tendency to lean on certain words. Yes, my own work has made me cry for both the same reasons. And it has likely made my editor cry, but not in a good way. There are certain words that I’m now hyper-aware of and if I use them too much (or at all) again, my editor will probably turn into LIam Nelson. She will find me and she will kill me, lol. 🙂
Liam Neason! bahahahaha. That’s is just too way hilarious
I never leave a manuscript on the shelf for very long, so I rarely get that “wow I’m good” thing, but I know what you mean about the shock at all the work my editor has to do. I’m always amazed at how completely blind I am to my own errors.
I think we tend to read passed our errors because we know what it should say. But shelving the book for this long was a real eye opener for me. So many simple mistakes that I over looked in the first read through.
BTW, the cover of Life by Chance looks great!
Thanks. I decided to take a more artsy approach to this cover. There is a little more going on it, but nothing overwhelming.