Editing...editing...editing...

It's been a long time coming. And it's not here yet.

But it's taking shape. Thank goodness for another set of eyes. Eyes that are not so used to the text on the page/screen that they can't see what's there - just what I imagined I'd written.

As is often the case, the story I can hear in my head doesn't quite get to the page in the same form. But it will.

But, as can be seen, it's a painful exercise. For the other pair of eyes - and blue pen - as well as for me, the hapless writer. There are some parts of this story that were only clear to the writer of same. As such, readers were on their own. And that won't do.

Some of it I can lay at the door of my less-experienced self. Some of it as a result of my first NaNoWriMo effort. I had the story, and some art. But not as much craft as is needed.

However, it's not all bad, or not as bad as the marks on the page above suggest. As can be seen from the second photo - parts of the story as written are likely to survive.

It's a humbling experience. And humility isn't my strong suit.

To keep from despairing, I'm also in the process of hammering my second novel into shape. Ever the optimist, that's me.