Embracing edits is a huge writing challenge. This week, step into the realm of revisions with me during the daunting task of rewriting and refining my novel. This applies to writing anything, but also—I hope—to dealing with the hard stuff….
Little Life Lists are for the complicated, unruly things life throws at us. I encourage you to write your own, too. With coffee.
xoxo
Edits are the hardest part of a writing life for me.
Yet.
In this list, I share with you how I deal with the feeling of stepping into the unknown.
Big edits.
Before I wrote this, I wrote two other posts. One was about the women in my life and the power their friendship gives me. It led to memories of a friend who betrayed me twenty-years-ago and the power that emotion still has to pull me back to a place and time that no longer exists.
Then I wrote about a social media break I’m taking.
Both of these are pieces I’ll share with you.
But my heart is focused on edits this week and I want to share how I deal with the hard work of rewriting a novel. Some of these words are from the email I sent in reply to the amazing editor I’m working with. Many are from other people because that’s where I find inspiration. And inspiration is what I most need.
I hope any or all of this helps you with whatever you need to redo in your life.
One: The chance to redo it means listening first. All of us have had conversations we replay over and over, wanting to get it right, wanting to say the perfect, vibrant response.
When we edit a piece or writing, we get to do that. Over and over. We get to figure out what we want to say.
But.
When we first hear that our work needs rethinking, it’s easy to want to hold up a hand. Close down that feedback. Shake loose and say NO NO NO NO. (Did that sound like a tantrum? It kind of was…)
I’ve been working on an adult crime novel for eighteen months now. It feels like forever, it feels like I’ve just begun.
Which leads to Two:
Always make the brave decision.
If I am able to incorporate these edits, the book will be better. As Suzy Walker reminds us, when we make the brave decision then we’re walking the right path. Which leads to:
Three: Finishing is a myth.
I’m going to quote someone else here because listening and reading is so much a part of the editorial experience for me. As I turn down the volume on the noise in my head, and pay attention to the words out there in the world, I find the story there, shining like a silver path through the moonlight.
It’s not about the prize; it’s about who we become while working for or toward something.
Four: You absolutely have this within you. Trust in yourself.
wrote those words. If you need to hear them this week, then I hope they help you as much as they help me.I'll give myself a few more days of that strange feeling of the unknown before I start anything on the page.
So first...
Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine: Hot baths, early bedtimes, long breaths on a dog walk. Flowers. Wild children.
Ten: Reminding myself that the point is to write the finest book I can because it makes me so much better at being me, which means that I show up so much better at everything.
Eleven: Reminding myself that finishing and sending out into the world later or never are all okay. Good even.
Share this with a writer in your life and tell me what do you do when you get an edit?
xoxo
Alice
And please tell me what your tips are! Your comments and connection are so important to me.
What do I know about being edited? If you’re new here, my name is Alice Kuipers and I’m a writer, mother and dog-owner transplanted twenty years ago to the Canadian prairies from England. I’ve published fourteen books in 36 countries and my writing has been described as: “For storytellers and story lovers,” by Kirkus Reviews; ‘Gorgeous, heart-ripping, important,” by VOYA; and “Intense and wonderful” by Bif Naked.
Join me for a coffee break on here.
Xoxo
Read:
is a beautiful writer and also incredibly wise about writing and publishing. who I quoted above writes Everyday Living and his note arrested me so that I photographed it and wrote it out. makes me excited to keep walking in this new direction. reminds me that ‘books challenge me in a way that I want to be challenged.’Also: I loved Wake by Shelly Burr, a debut crime novel about grief and guilt which gives me hope and heart for the book I’m writing, too.
More writing secrets from me:
Another Little Life List for Writers:
What I’m working on when I’m not writing or wrangling children:
Hi Alice-hon, I can't speak to book edits or that process...yet. I know 100% there's a book in my future just not exactly the when. You know I'm more of a resource-reflection-resource-share writer ...so could I offer that here on Confessions and Coffee, you're sharing your Non-fiction book about your process with real-life reflections that complement your fiction book...you can publish the articles-book alongside the book as 'behind the scenes' or 'how to' ;-)
You're capturing your edits and fathoming their 'why' right here for our benefit - thanks!
These are all great tips Alice! I think I’m going to write them on post-it notes and glue them on my wall! I particularly liked number 10 and 11. The combination of those two, in my opinion, is a reminder why writing is important to me (to be a better person), but less important in the grand scheme of things (it’s not brain surgery!). Somewhere between these two I find my motivation, but also learn to relax a bit and let go. Thank you!!