Editing is such a difficult process. Everyone does it differently - I know some writers who literally get a chapter down on paper and then polish it straight away. I find that my brain likes to splurge out the whole manuscript - a very rough draft which needs numerous layers of polish before it starts to shine. I like having that full manuscript to work on so I can weave new plot lines in, so I can make my characters flow right through until the very end.
Tattooing Angels is on (what I hope will be) its final line edit before it goes out in the world. Any more edits and I might lose some of the magic and just ruin what might have worked better before I decided to improve it.
Does anyone know when to stop? It becomes an obsession almost! A friend of mine who has recently secured a publishing deal has said that whenever she reads her manuscript over again she finds things she wants to change - even though its about to go to print she knows that there are things she won't like when she reads it back. Is it possible to distance ourselves enough to really look at it again and finally think it ready?
