In my last post (Relishing the Moment), I confessed to actually enjoying the copyediting stage of my current project in preparation for its launch on Kindle Vella this coming January. I realize more than a few writers dread this process above all others. (I wonder how many daydreams all the independent authors in the world have at any given moment that involve a team of copy editors at their beck and call.)

But today I'm interested in exploring a trend I've noticed on social media & elsewhere. Namely, the collective lament of self-published writers about wherever they happen to be on the journey: plotting, drafting, revising, developmental editing, structural editing, proofreading, copyediting, etc.—until the moment they launch a beloved project.

I know firsthand how demanding & frustrating the entire drawn-out process can be. And I also fully appreciate the thrill of the countdown & launch after my experience last fall & earlier this year when I published Pearl Fields & the Oregon Meltdown first on Draft2Digital, then on KDP.

But I also believe each step of my writing process from inception to completion is a gift in & of itself. I admit to being in the camp of appreciating every moment possible in life, but why not? The choice is simple enough from my limited point of view. Sure, in this case, it would be great to: 1) have an agent, editor, publisher, & publicist that I didn't have to pay up front; and 2) not get the sense of being drawn into a sinkhole by a niche industry that has more than one sketchy operator sprinkled in among its dedicated professionals.

But I don't, & I won't. So, I roll up my sleeves, do my homework, find my inspiration, & enjoy the ride.

Ray Bradbury's take on embracing a sense of wonder with each step of the journey rings true for me—as does his idea that the more an artist creates, the more they'll improve their chops (I obviously took liberties with that concept from his book Zen in the Art of Writing).

Maybe the angst I sense from other self-published writers is similar to the "Is it Friday, yet?" syndrome. Or maybe my concern for our collective well-being is my own smokescreen or another attempt to fake it till I make it. Never a dull moment in the life of an independent author, right?

In the meantime, copyediting my own work means I can embrace the notion of cutting myself some slack in the overall scheme of things. Dreyer quotes one of his colleagues who perfectly described the role of copy editor: "You're attempting to burrow into the brains of your writers & do for, to, & with their prose what they themselves might have done for, to, & with it had they not already looked at each damn sentence 657 times" (Dreyer's English).

Keep you posted.
Drew
Drew Faraday
Pearl Fields and the Oregon Meltdown