Flawed

I don't know about you, but I have a bad habit of beating myself up. Not in a Fight Club/Edward Norton sort of way—which had me busting a gut the first time I saw it—but in the form of severe browbeatings.

Case in point: I'm revising my YA novel Westward, Tally Ho! and I'm about halfway through it; but I've noticed two major flaws in the writing. The first is wordiness. Back in 2010 when I revised it last, I apparently had no problem using 12 words to describe something I could have with 6. The second flaw I've found is POV inconsistency. Instead of remaining inside the head of the scene's POV character, I shared thoughts from other characters and physical descriptions of the main character even though there's never a mirror around.

The good news: By letting this manuscript simmer for well over a year while I devoted my time to writing short stories, I've developed a critical eye for these flaws, and this draft, when finished, will be its best yet—worthy of an agent's or publisher's attention. The bad news: I get down on myself over these glaring faults, and I start to wonder what flaws I'll find with my current body of work two years from now.

Can you relate? I always manage to shake off the negativity eventually, but I wish it would never rear its ugly head.

In other news, the cover art for Triangulation: Morning After has been revealed, and I'm so honored to find my name along with these very cool fellow writers. "While She Sleeps, Mountains Tremble" had to go through a couple rewrites prior to acceptance, but it's better for it, and I can't wait to share it with you later this month.