Today I completed yet another full edit of my manuscript,Through Frankie’s Eyes. At the end of January my editor,Yvonne  left me with the task of editing the majority of my manuscript with suggestions/comments she made on a portion of it. Because I have a limited budget to work with and Yvonne believes in helping authors be better writer’s, I had a lot of work ahead of me.

My initial reaction was that I didn’t want to do it. I felt defeated when she suggested I go through the rest of the manuscript and make improvements based on her suggestions. But after sitting with it a day, I realized I was too anxious to move through the process. I was frustrated it was going to now take longer. Once I made peace with that, I dove right back into it – little by little – each day. As I got into it I felt embarrassed for things I should have caught the first time around – but no use in beating myself up for that now – no time for it. I’m a work in progress.

Today after finishing up with the last edits to the last chapter, I felt elated – I did it!  Anxious for step two of my editing process I drove to the printers and had the manuscript printed out. I had to pay extra to have it done right away, but I didn’t care. I was ready. When the gentleman handed my printed manuscript to me, I got goosebumps.

I made my way out to the car where Frankie was waiting in her doggie car seat. I skimmed through my manuscript and seeing it all in print made me realize that I had now actually written a whole book – tears filled my eyes. I looked at Frankie and patted her on the head – this manuscript I held in my hands is all because of her – my dog on wheels who led the way to me finding my authenticity.

Tomorrow I’m looking forward to taking my printed manuscript along with a red pen and heading to a new coffee shop nearby to start a line by line edit for any other changes I need to make – of which I am sure there will be more. But I can accept that every change I make is another step closer to being a better writer. I’m willing and ready. I’m a work in progress and I love it.