✍🏽 What Editing This Book Has Taught Me

Editing always feels like it’s about fixing words… but somehow it ends up teaching you things about yourself too.

Here are three things I’ve learned while editing this book:

🖊 1. I care way too much about pens.

If it doesn’t write smoothly or lays down too much ink, I simply cannot function. Editing apparently requires the perfect pen.

📝 2. My notes are unhinged (but effective).

Some of them are helpful.

Some make zero sense.

All of them make me laugh and I’m pretty sure my sister will understand exactly what I meant when she reads them one day.

💛 3. I really love my characters.

I want them to grow. I want them to change. I want them to earn their endings.

But… they still have to go through the mystery first. Growth comes with a little chaos.

Editing isn’t just about polishing a draft. It’s about realizing how much you care about the story you’re telling.

💬 What’s something editing has taught you about yourself?

#Lemon8Writers #AuthorLife #EditingProcess #IndieAuthor #WritingJourney

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