Writing and Eating

First off, tomorrow I will have a post over at Flash Fiction Chronicles - go check it out!

And now, for the rest of my updates...

Umm...

Yeah.

So in lieu of posting about any actual writing progress, I'm going to post about something I've realized about writing and me.

Writing, for me, is like eating. The first draft is like eating a fresh-baked brownie. It's delicious, and wonderful, and makes me happy. Finishing the first draft is like pushing back from the table after Thanksgiving dinner, all full and content, and ready to give up food for a long time.

Editing, though, is like dieting. I know that I need to do it. Those 20 pounds (or 20000 words of crap) aren't going to disappear without some work. However, I'm lazy, and I'm comfortable with the extra pounds, and hey, do I really need to diet (edit)? I don't like editing. It's boring, and it makes me re-read my writing and feel like a failure because I didn't get it right the first time, even though I know that NO ONE gets it right the first time through. Even as I'm writing this, I'm putting off editing HEA, because I know that there's a LOT of work waiting for me. At the same time, I'm putting off exercising - procrastinating on two fronts at once!

If editing is like dieting, then submitting is like making Thanksgiving dinner for my family for the first time. I'm pretty sure that I know what I'm doing, I've practiced making each of the dishes, I'm quite certain that my pumpkin pie is awesome, but I'm just not entirely sure that everyone is going to like what I make. What if Dad wanted apple pie instead of pumpkin? What if my sister hates sweet potatoes? What if Grandma hates Mom's stuffing recipe that I used? I can have everything all ready and on the table, but until they start eating and telling me whether it's good or not, I'll be nervous. When I submit something, whether it's a short story, article, or whatever, I have no idea if what I've done is something that the editors will like. I can be fairly certain that I've written a coherent piece, and I've usually had friends read it to be sure that it's good, but until I get a response, I'm nervous. Very nervous.

And now, after all of these food comparisons, I'm hungry.

Grr. Stupid diet.