Editing is fun?

As I close in on finishing my second novel, I am finding that I actually enjoy editing. I would not have guessed this. I love to write, but the thought of going over what I’ve written and changing it seemed not only daunting, but tedious.

However, I like my characters. I like the situations they’ve found themselves in. I like spending more time with them. I like reading a sentence and seeing how it could be made better.

At times, writing can be a harrowing experience.” What?” you say. “But you love writing!” Yes, I do. But pulling out the right words to make things happen in a story can be painful. Once the words are down, however, well now you can play with them, tweak them, polish them until they say exactly what you want to say in just the right way. And that is why I like editing.

And it’s a good thing, because editing is a necessary step in the process of producing a good book. So while I have completed writing the manuscript for my second novel, it is in no way complete. At least, not until I have finished going through it and polishing it.

What about you? Do you like editing as much as or more than writing?