I have a novel that I intend to submit to a publisher at the end of the month, and I've been going through it line by line in an attempt to smooth it out. It's been an agonizing process, and a humbling one.
I first started the novel eleven months ago, I wrote it over two months, and then I submitted it to my editors for review. I revised it several times under their direction, and then let it sit on the shelf for a while without doing anything with it. I knew it needed a few more changes but I just wasn't in the mood. Last Sunday I finally was able to work on it again and it has been every bit as grueling as I had anticipated it to be. I've learned so much as a writer since it was initially written that I've changed almost every paragraph in order to improve the flow of the writing. I've noticed inconsistencies and had to rewrite several sections entirely. It's been worth it, but it's been tiring and stressful at the whole time. This story is my child, and it feels like I'm having to discipline it because it's done something wrong. I don't know how many of you have felt this way before when going through your own work, but if you have, how do you make the process more bearable? Have you been forced to just soldier through it or do you have a different perspective?