The edit continues. I managed to hit 105 pages over the weekend. There are going to be some little bits and pieces I will need to tweak once I get the main part of the edit done. The hardest part is adding in that extra POV that was lacking from most of the first draft.

Today, I’m going to hunker down and see how much I can do. I’m very anxious to be typing up my changes, making my book stronger, and sending it off to the beta readers for comments.

Things I’ve noticed during this edit:

1) My book tends to get stronger after the opening chapters. Or at least, it seems that way in my head as I re-read it.

2) My secondary characters really seem to have great voices. I find them much easier to bring to life than my main characters. I suppose because they tend to be quirky and a little odd.

3) I will never be anything but a commercial writer.

There’s nothing wrong with number 3, but I have to keep reminding myself of that. I don’t do deep, gorgeous writing. Lyrical? Nope. My writing style is clean and to the point. I guess, in my head, I want to be prettier and more lyrical. I do pull that out once in awhile. A nice descriptive paragraph or two. But I don’t like to write that way for a whole book. Just doesn’t feel natural.

I think I’d love to be somewhere between commerical and literary. Like Dennis Lehane or Jodi Picoult. But it ain’t gonna happen. No way in hell.

And I need to be okay with that.

I think for any writer, being comfortable with your voice is the biggest hurdle to overcome. Accepting that you have to follow it and that you can’t copy people you admire. I could probably force myself to write differently, but then there is no way I could finish books the way I have. I’d probably still be stuck in chapter one somewhere, trying to figure out how to get out of it.

So I am just putting my head down and editing…without wishing I were someone else.