Having edits completed on my books is not something I really enjoy. Don’t get me wrong, I love the editors I use. They are wonderful people, and essential to my writing.
It’s just that I write my books and have a difficult time seeing them in any other way. Getting edits back is kind of like the feeling you had when you were in school and got something back from your teacher covered in red marks. Not only do I need to fix things, but I also need to admit I don’t know a lot about certain things such as punctuation. I sometimes miss things, such as the fact that I used the word “very” 52 times. I make mistakes.
I also have to admit that I was wrong and the editor was right. This is not always easy for me. Oddly in a critique group I have no issues with having my mistakes pointed out, but the edits make me more defensive. I can’t explain it.
There are times things I wrote which made perfect sense to me don’t make sense at all. At times I have a character in a scene but never said they were there. The list goes on and on. What do you mean I never explained that! (Turns out I didn’t)
I have learned to tolerate the process more than I did initially, but it’s never going to be my favorite part of writing.
That being said, editors add a considerable amount of value to my work, and I wouldn’t be where I am without them. I respect and value their work tremendously, and I can’t thank them enough.