EEK...Edits!!

There are so many valuable elements needed in producing a publishable work of art that it might take me a week to list them all. BUT if I did list them all, would it stress you out??

Talking to our Oasis writers: how often do you feel overwhelmed, split in too many pieces, forced in a million directions at once? Distracted and taken out of your writing element?

I'll spotlight only one of those valuable writing elements every writer needs: beta readers. We love them. We need them. But are you ever afraid to see what they really have to say?

CREDIT

I'm not here to focus on whether your work is flaming hot or simply lukewarm. Whether you have seven books already flooding the market or you're still waiting to sign with an agent or find a publisher for your first work. What I want to know is do you ever get that sticky, sickly churn in the center of your gut making you fear what someone has to say about your work?
YOU CAN'T EVEN PEEK AT IT.

It happened to me the other day. One of my beta readers sent over a few more chapters she'd finished reviewing. Now, this beta has been amazingly supportive of my YA manuscript and my talent, as she calls it. So I had no reason to be apprehensive about opening up the docs and start combing through her notes. Where did that sudden anxiety come from?

Life probably. As the mother of four children, daughter of ailing parents, and wife to a corporate hubby, my life is never dull. Most days I move forward without even thinking about it--robotic motions that have no beginning or end. It's the days when something happens that, for whatever reason, gets my attention and makes me slow down--even for an instant. It could be the dude at the green light who doesn't understand that GREEN MEANS GO!, or that I had to practically hogtie the seven year old to brush his teeth. My brain then goes all freakshow and starts pondering every stinking event in my life and decision I've made.


Does this ever happen to you? Does it affect your writing, and if it does, what are your remedies??


AND for an Oasis Alert: The winner of our copy of FLAWLESS is MARY ANN!! Congrats!!