The stages of writing

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I read a post by author Veronica Roth in which she says, “I hate writing first drafts and love to revise. When I say I hate first drafts, I really mean it— I mean I dread starting them and grumble through every second of them and generally try to get them over with as quickly as humanly possible so that I can actually do the thing I like, which is to FIX THEM.”

That got me thinking. There are lots of stages of book-making and all writers love and hate different steps. I’m Ms. Roth’s opposite: I love the freedom of creating something new, especially in the beginning half of a manuscript. I struggle more with finishing fresh material, and I am pretty good at (but hate) the revision stage.

I’m currently in the submission stage, which is my own personal writing hell. Summarizing my fantasy novel in a paragraph or sometimes even a sentence is torture to me. The exercise is teaching me to be a better writer, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Ha.

To break the cycle of horrors, I’ve plans this weekend to give myself a break and work on the opening chapters of book two. Hopefully doing what I love best will reenergize me.

I'm not even mentioning the other stages I haven't experienced yet, like marketing and promotions. Book covers and artwork and trailers, oh my!

So, writers, which stages do you relish? Which stages do you dread?