Editing: Part 13

I finally felt motivated enough to do some editing today, perhaps because my dog needs a fenced in yard, which is probably not viable for another 1.5 years. It was also in part due to my decision to ask a couple of my students if they’d be interested in reading my book. These kids are basically me ten years ago in terms of love of reading/writing, and I think it’d be nice to test my words out.

The issue is that I simply was not happy with the beginning of the book. The whole shebang probably still needs a few rounds of editing to be passable, but the beginning is particularly weak. It’s a shame because I love my first line; it was picked out long before NaNoWriMo 2011 began.

I realized that if I give people my prologue to gauge interest, there’s no point in having a good first line if the rest sucks. I was forced to really examine my first few pages and admit to myself that the timing is off, and it’s off because of my first line.

HEARTBREAK.

It sounds silly, but rearranging the prologue was super difficult. I was emotionally attached to my beginning, and while the lines are still included, they’ve lost some of their pizzazz. I’m okay, though, because now the overall prologue is SO much cleaner, and makes a lot more sense.

I guess the main thing I’ve learned from the editing process is not to get too attached to any one thing, because you might need to move it or leave it out to improve the overall experience.

BUT IT STILL SUCKS, YO.