It's not generally true. My words are fine. My manuscript is moving along and in pretty solid form. But it's a real fight to convince myself that's the case and keep writing forward instead of going back and cursing myself for being a crappy writer who writes crap.
This is the textbook case for an Alpha reader. Someone to look at the book as I'm writing it and say "No, you're being ridiculous, this book looks great, keep going, you're fine!"
There are definitely books that would not have been finished if it hadn't been for my Alphas.
This is one of them.
(98K and counting. 10 days left to finish.)
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I hear you on this one; I've had quite a few books that never made it past the alpha stage because I hated them as soon as I was done with them. I don't even want to go back and look at them again, even though they might have potential. >_< I'm glad that having alpha readers works for you, though I don't think I could do the same - I always find so much I need to fix if I start editing, and I don't think I'd want to subject any of my readers to such an unpolished book.
ReplyDeleteThe trick is finding the right person to Alpha. you need someone who won't get caught up in the details, but sees the big picture and understand your vision for the story you're telling. There are some readers who can't see beyond the line level edits -- that just isn't how they roll -- and those are the people I save for like, 3rd round, you know? Because they're SUPER valuable when I get there, but for the alpha-ing, I just need someone who is familiar enough with me and my writing to keep me on track.
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