Flourishes & Flowers

Writing is hard. Crafting the perfect first chapter followed by a compelling (and not mind-numbing) middle and an ending that ties everything up in a nice bow is probably one of the hardest things you'll ever do. Until you start editing and questioning every choice you ever made, that is. 

The process of draft to print is a combination of awful and delightful.

Last week, I received the publication proof for Becoming Beauty. As usual, I let it sit in my inbox for a day, because like a Howler from Harry Potter, one never knows how bad it might be. These days with I want my moooooooommmmm! ringing in my ears, there isn't much peace of mind or creativity left at the end of the day. However, after several chocolate chip cookies, slices of pizza, and a healthy helping of Netflix, I was ready to tackle it.

I've come to expect direction on major and minor changes to my manuscript which (I remind myself) make my story stronger and clearer. Instead, what I found was the result of collaboration between me and the designers, professional editors, and proofreaders at Cedar Fort. Basically, I'm having the most delightful time running through it and savoring each little formatting surprise I find. 

What a great reward for several years of hard work! Something as lovely as I could have hoped for full of flourishes, flowers, and cuteness. How exciting is that? And seeing that all the suggestions and gut instincts I've followed have made the end product much stronger really does make me trust myself and my team more.

Take it from me: your hard work is worth it. Please friends, don't give up. Dump the blood, sweat, tears, sleepless nights, fat pants, bad snacks, and crappy social life into your work. It will pay off in the end. Because after all the hard work, this is fun!

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For more about my journey from draft to print, read Death By Autocorrect or Just a Taste. Thanks for stopping in! And now back to proofreading!