In your writing, what stresses or delights you?

In your writing, what stresses you the most? What delights you?

Sorry for the lateness of this post. It’s been a trying few weeks. Between caring for 3 week old kittens to losing my father-in-law suddenly. Some might not be affected by losing an in law, but I had a good relationship with my FIL. We both had engineer type minds, being able to fix things. I’m definitely going to miss him.

So with that in mind, I’ll do my best on today’s post, but it”ll be a struggle.

What I’ve enjoyed most about my writing is when I have a solid idea in mind. For example, the novel I’d published, Second on the Right, was an idea I’d had for year. Maybe even since I’d watched Disney’s Peter Pan. Seeing that movie, I was cheering on Captain Hook. I did not like Peter. I found him irritating. So the idea of Hook actually being the good guy might have started back then. Years in the making, it grew into a story idea that was easy to put down on paper. And part of that idea involved researching various ships, which I really enjoyed. As long as the idea was solid, every aspect (except for editing) was a delight.

I’m almost there again with another story, though the story idea is from a friend. I was able to knock out a few chapters before life punched me in the gut. Hopefully I’ll get back to it maybe the beginning of next year. For now, I’ll be focuses on our annual Santa run where we roam the community spreading a little cheer.

What stressed me out? Well, editing for one. I haaaaate editing. And proofreading. Because no matter how many times I go through it and find mistakes, there are still more lurking about. That part always stresses me out. I’ve read my novel forwards and backwards and yet I know there are probably still mistakes I’ve missed. Which is frustrating because I don’t want to put out a product that isn’t near perfect.

What stresses you out with writing? Or is it a constant joy? Even the editing?? 🙂