Let the Baby Bird Go!
I recently sent my latest novel-in-progress to readers/editors from whom I value feedback for near-final drafts. One of those is my sister, who is an experienced education and excellent reader/editor. I texted a few of them with some of my concerns. And I said something like "I'm at that stage most authors reach where I begin wondering if this novel is just garbage, and I can't see it because I am so close to it." My phone rang almost immediately: my sister. "You gotta stop reading your manuscript!" So true. As I have told so many of the writers and authors who I edit and ghostwrite for, at some point you have to push the baby bird out of the nest. No, it won't be perfect. Later, you will wish you had changed this or that. You'll spot typos (even after the publisher has proofed it). Our writings can be quite personal to us, and so we treat them like our children. We want them to be perfect, safe, and free from criticism. But like our children, that is not reality. We do our best, send them out into the world when they are ready, and then we move on to the next thing. We always need to relearn what we already know. Wise words from my dear sister. Thank you, readers and followers, and I hope your July is full of joy. | 
