BROOKLYN, WE I HAVE A PROBLEM

The only thing better than having a long weekend at the shore is having a long weekend at the shore with bad weather so you can edit without guilt! Can't be on the beach, can't be outside on the deck, can't be walking around town, so what else can you do? EDIT TO YOUR HEART'S CONTENT! GUILT-FREE!

As many writers can attest, we're most happy and complete when we're in our own little worlds scribbling fantastic thoughts on a page or computer screen. This is certainly true for me, and as much as I suffer through enjoy writing a first draft, editing is where I get to dance naked with a lampshade on my head deepen my manuscript. It's like a grown-up sandbox. Toss some sand here, build a castle there, dig a moat around the edge there. When you know the foundation (first draft) is solid, you can build on top without worrying the castle will collapse into the moat. 

Okay, enough with the metaphors. (You're welcome.) 

PSYCH!!! 

Okay, so I lied. Here's one more:

Writing a first draft is akin to getting a gold medal for a high dive in the
Olympics sketching a picture in pencil on a large canvas. When you've got all the trees, mountains, flowers, pathways, ladies lounging by the lake with parasols (my imaginary painting is from the 1800s), sun, clouds, animals, and houses sketched in a comprehensive and pleasing manner, then...VOILA!!! Your first draft is done. This is when you party like Keith Richards pat yourself on the back and take a long nap. THEN... when you take out your paints or colored pencils and start shading and brightening and clarifying and adding or erasing animals or plants or ladies with parasols, that my friend, is called the editing process. That's where the magic happens. That's where the sand gets kicked in the bully's face. (Did I not mention that in the earlier metaphor? Oops, my bad! Yes, when you're in the sandbox, always remember to kick sand in the bully's face. It's the law in all 50 states and the territory of Puerto Rico. Not sure about the US Virgin Islands, but feel free to Google it.) It's a slow yet rewarding process, and it's how we writers write books.

So, here I am in the sandbox carefully digging my moat, except for one little thing...

I HAVE A PROBLEM. 

"What is your problem?" you ask, because you're kind and caring and, okay, a bit nosy. Well, I was born in Brooklyn, that's my frickin' problem. Besides being rude and having a foul mouth, people born in Brooklyn have this thing called an IG, code for: Impatient Gene. So, rather than simply kicking back, relaxing, and enjoying tossing sand in the bully's face while digging that freaking moat, I think, God, I'm pretty! "I SHOULD BE DONE BY NOW!!!" To be clear, it's not my fault. My parents are to blame. They could have brought me into the world in say Little Rock, Arkansas or Bainville, Montana (a real place, I looked it up, pop 208), but NOOOOO - they thought their DDD (Darling Daughter Debra) should burst forth into the world in Brooklyn, New York. So, here I am loving writing and hating that it takes so much GD time to write.

I hope this gives you a clearer picture of the life of a Jewish American Princess hard-working dedicated writer. If you have questions or wish to be showered with even more annoying sparkling metaphors, please let me know.

Until then, be kind to one another, treasure the moments, and get your damn self vaccinated. Please and thank you.

xo

Debbie