The Hardest Part of Writing a Book

Here's the thing. Writing the book, is not the hardest part.

But how does this make sense? Isn't the title of this blog post, The Hardest Part of Writing a Book?

Well, yes. It is. But... that was a bit of a click-baity title. The real question for writers should be 'What's the hardest part of publishing a book.' And the thing you'll see writers and aspiring authors say again and again, is that it's not the actual writing.

So if it's not the writing, what is the hardest part?

Now bear in mind this is just my personal experience, however it's something that I've seen lots of writers complain about before. It's the editing. Writing the first draft is the thing we agonise over, the thing that we spend hours pouring our hearts into, our blood, sweat, and tears as we lovingly try to craft a novel out of the story that has been living rent free in our heads, sometimes for years.

Editing that is the hard part.

Now some of you might be saying, but Ella! Surely the hard part is getting it published! Getting it on the shelves! Going through submissions and publishers! To this I say, indie / self-published authors are valid. And we disagree with this statement. Because in order to publish, you have to go through the editing process.

The dreaded editing process

Once you have lovingly crafted your first draft, the manuscript you've poured your very soul into, you then have to begin the harrowing process of slashing it apart. Again, and again, and again. I have lost count of how many times we have gone through our book and how many iterations it has taken now. All for the better don't get me wrong, but the process is excruciating.

What does the editing process look like?

There are three main types of editing when it comes to fiction editing. Well, three that truly matter.

Developmental Editing

The first type, and arguably the most important type, is the developmental editing stage.

This is where you will hand your book over to someone who has never read it before, and they will tear it limb from limb in order to expose every plot hole and inconsistency that you didn't realise was there.

This, as I've already said, is excruciatingly important. When we spend so long on our first draft, it's extremely easy to get to a point where you are so close to it you assume the reader has as much information in their heads as you do. So we miss those crucial moments when we don't realise that Kevin hasn't actually told Amelia about the bomb in his pocket, but she comments on it. Or we forget that Tish collected evidence in chapter three that she then never uses again, or never tells anyone else about it. The developmental editor catches those little things and reminds us that they exist, helping us tie up any loose ends.

Line Editing

Line editing is the part of editing that people sometimes mix with developmental editing. Where developmental editing is about plot and and your story as a whole, line editing is about looking at the line by line of your copy. How readable is it, does it flow well, is it clear, what is the style like? Often when you find a good developmental editor they can do this part for you also. They can help you answer questions like, is the tempo right? Or are there certain moods or parts that you struggle with like dialogue or tension?

This was one of the most difficult bits for us as, because we'd written the book together as call and response to start with, finding a cohesive style was vital for us. Our editor Marisa honestly a gods send when it came to this.

Copy Editing

The third type I'm going to talk about here is Copy Editing. This is what we think of when we think of editing, going through with a red pen and fixing spelling, grammar, punctuation, all of the nitty gritty things. It's the last step, and honestly these days it can mostly be done by software.

Editors don't do the work for you

Now here is the kicker, and a common misconception. Your editor doesn't do the work for you. They don't make the changes. They merely flag them. You still have to go through every edit they have made and fix it yourself. It's no joke when we say that you will read your book twelve-thousand times. You really will. So editors don't actually lighten the work load for you they just have the expertise to show you where you're going wrong and how to make it better. The hours that you will spend going through all of their suggestions and then implementing them can be a little soul destroying thanks to the monotony of it all.

This leads us to the momentum problem

Finding the moment to continue through all of the editing can be hard. And what is harder still is when you have that momentum and it's broken. For us this has been a huge issue. I adore our book, and I desperately want to get it out there. But the difficulty of carving time out of an extremely busy life to make that happen should not be scoffed at. We both have to work full time, and we are both disabled, which means getting into the swing of it is important to keep that going. Without revealing too much we have had a couple of REALLY busy years, marriage, house buying, other bits and pieces have all made maintaining that momentum difficult.

My only piece of advice is carving out some protected time for yourself. Does your partner go to the gym every Tuesday and Friday? Go with them and find a coffee shop close by. That's two hours uninterrupted every week dedicated just to this. Trust me it will help.

If you don't have a thick skin, you'll need to grow one

I know it's something people go on and on about in this world but that is for good reason. Even just in the process of editing you're going to hear a lot of criticism about your project, your baby that you've spend sometimes years creating. This, especially from editors, is not designed to hurt. It's designed to help. It's time to put aside the pride and listen to the experts, especially if you're new to this like we are. Ultimately they're just trying to help you get the best chance of publishing your book, whether that's through self publishing or otherwise. Listen to them. A good editor has your back and wants you to succeed.

So how do we continue through all of this?

Don't despair into your laptop. I know it all feels like a lot but it's important to remember that this is not a problem that only you are experiencing. Clearly... I'm writing about it. It's a problem universally experienced by writers old and new, published and unpublished.

So how do we push through?

I can obviously only advise as to what works for me, but for me it's routine. It's creating a safe space and a protected time that is dedicated to the editing process every week. Life WILL get in the way, but you will also get back on track and eventually if you stick to that and do all your can not to let it defeat you, as long as you keep getting back on that horse you will get it finished, which means you will get it out there.