Those Nagging Bits
You know those bits of your Work In Progress that nag at you? You wrote them knowing they weren’t quite right, but you glossed over them, or thought maybe if you ignored them, your critique partners wouldn’t notice them either. And then after your critique partners suggested something wasn’t quite right with those parts, you revised them a little, just enough to maybe make them a bit better and not so noticeably off. And then you sell your novel and start working with an editor, and guess what?
Those nagging bits are still there.
They still need to be taken care of. They’ll keep nagging at you until whatever is off about them is resolved.
Trust me in this: when you’re reading through your manuscript, if you come across a section that doesn’t feel right (that’s your writer’s intuition, trust it!), you’re better off fixing the issue now, rather than later. Like an air bubble under your iPhone screen protector, it’s not going to go away until you peel it back and smooth it out.
Ug. I didn’t want to read that…but I know you are right!
I’m sorry! Trust me, I know how you feel.
I got the manuscript for my first novel back from my beta reader last week and while she had a lot to say about it, there were really no surprises. So what you say is true – trust yourself and fix it. Thank you for the encouragement!
You’re welcome, Margaret! Good luck with your revisions.