Revisions

 For those of you who have been keeping up, I am in the process of pursuing getting my first novel published. Yes, I know that there is a direct route through self-publishing, and I could have had it out there already. For reasons that I will not go into here and now, I chose a different route. It was a better choice for me and I am content with it. What it brought with it, however, was an editing team. A team I personally chose and am extremely privileged to have found. (Or as I choose to believe, been led to.) Editors are a blessing, in that they go through your manuscript with a fine-tooth comb and find the flaws. Not just the things that spell-check and a grammar program will find, but character arc problems. Timing issues, sentence redundancies, etc. So many things you may not notice when you are pouring your story onto the 'page', opening your heart and spilling your guts. Like, 'do you notice how often you use this particular word?', or 'She can't use both hands, she is holding a phone.' Oh. Right. Worse yet...I'm lost here...explain, (fill in the blank) I thought it was clear, but to a reader, maybe not. Or the worst of all, "This paragraph is completely unnecessary. It adds nothing to the story. Take it out." What? I thought that was some of my best writing. Perhaps it was, save it for somewhere else. It doesn't belong here.  

But. But. I paid for these incredible, talented, intelligent women to do what they are doing. They know better than I what works. And when I go back and re-read with their insight, it makes sense. Now, they also say, it is my work and if I choose to do something else, if I feel differently, let's talk. But they are right. But I must confess, as I looked at the edited documents, black lines through much of my writing, red highlights through paragraphs - I felt a sense of panic. It wasn't just spelling or grammar mistakes, it was what I actually wrote. Words that frankly I felt I was led to write. Was I wrong? Am I ok? Should I keep doing this?

At the end of a two-hour Zoom, one of the ladies said to me, "I hope you are not overwhelmed, or discouraged." I lied a little and said, "No. I'm ok. I can do this." I was a bit overwhelmed, and a tiny bit discouraged. But I can do this. But I didn't want her to offer me a refund. And they both did offer me praise and encouragement. That helped immensely. In short they are telling me that my book has promise and that it can be good. But if I apply myself and really work at it, it can be better than it is. Maybe better than good?

I am reading a book on writing right now. One of the chapters starts out with a very successful author who baldly states that every one of her works starts out with a very bad first draft. One which she would never ever let anyone see. That is the platform from which she works to make it better. Then her second one is the one from which she makes the best one that will actually sell. That made me feel better. A lot better, actually. That made me understand the craft, and that there is hope.

It is not unlike our lives as Christians. We are constantly under revision. At first we are so rough it is a massive mess. God works on us constantly. No matter how many times we go over the transcript of our lives, our Master Editor will come back with another tweak. Not to show us that there is no hope, not to create in us a reason to quit, but to make us the best that we can be. 

My editors want my manuscript to be the best that it can be, so that when a reader picks it up, there are no distractions. They will only hear the story, understand clearly the message I am trying to impart, and God wants no less. By clearing out the clutter, removing what doesn't belong and polishing us, we can also be read by the world. No distractions, to tell His story, impart The Message and be understood by a lost and dying world.