I have way more finished stories waiting to be edited and made pretty than seems reasonable.  I’m getting a little tired of writing for the drawer.  I gotta be honest though.  I’m not a big fan of editing.  Okay, okay.  I said I would be honest.  The fact is, I hate it.  I don’t know why.  I always feel better afterwards.  Maybe it’s kind of like exercise.  Or needing to go poop.

Anyway, as I mentioned before, in an effort to start shoving my overgrown children out into the world, I signed up for Write1Sub1’s challenge.  Write one new story a week, send one story out into the world, like good old Ray Bradbury.  Writing a new story seems much easier than prepping one for submission.  But this is my challenge.  I choose to accept it.  Mama wants her babies to grow up and buy her a big house!  Just kidding.  (Not really.)

Anyway, practice makes perfect, and so I hope to get faster and better at editing.  How do I know I suck at it?  Because Chuck Wendig tells me so, and he tells me why.  Busted.  What to do?  Check out his three-part blog series entitled, “Edit Your Shit.” He also tells a great story.

So together with Chuck’s advice and an insane number of writing books, a running computer (idontbelieveinjinxesidontbelieveinjinxes), and a child who does sleep eventually, I have everything I need to become a faster, better editor.

My biggest worry is that my subconscious will recognize this challenge as an artificial deadline and lure me off into the woods where it has a shallow grave dug and waiting.  If you see it, don’t say nothing, okay?  As far as it’s concerned, there’s an editor with a fat check waiting for my story, “The Shroud Maker,” which is scheduled to leave my custody and control by the end of the week.

Right.  I better get to work.