Editing

People shudder when I say I am editing.  The prospect of trawling through all the work already done in the initial writing process and pulling it apart, seems torturous.  But it is strangely pleasurable. It is amazing what editing can uncover.  Just when I think I’ve covered everything, tied up all the ends and explored every thought process worth thinking, I stumble across monumental possibilities.  It’s not just small details of texture or colour, but blindingly obvious threads and connections that reveal their being as though I am watching them unfold on screen.  Just as the mind fills in the gaps between images to make sense of movement, so it justifies emotions and actions of characters, linking outcomes to backstories and adding weight to the characters. It is like watching a film a second, third, fourth time and discovering new angles, reasons and possibilities.  However, the most fun is experiencing the chill down the neck or the tears or the chuckle in the back of the throat that grab me each time I read certain phrases or sections.  If they continually affect me despite having written, read and re-read them I feel confident that I am not wasting my time. So, back I go on the editing trail