Must. Stop. Editing.

My book is coming out so sooooooon!

Ahh! I can’t believe it! I have to stop editing my book! The manuscript is finished.

Even though I’m not done.

I know that artists like us writers never feel like a piece is done, but that’s never bothered me that much since I work in the digital space and there’s always the option for a “fast follow”. However, this book will be printed on actual paper, that like, people hold in their hands and I can’t take back to mark up ever again. Every single time I read the manuscript there are things I want to change. At this point I might be changing things back to the way they were in a previous version, who knows. But I do know that I never see my words without wanting to edit them. And yet, I have to stop.

If I’ve lost you at this point and you don’t understand what the fuss is all about, that’s cool. I’m a little jealous. But if you CAN relate… well then you understand why my nightmares these days are scenes of reading my book in bed and finding edits that I MUST make and then running around the globe in the middle of the night (in the nightmare it’s night around the globe simultaneously, go figure) snatching copies from people’s hands and fixing them in blue ink with a ballpoint pen on the spot.

After waking up in a cold sweat I give myself the pep talk: The finished piece you (I) put out into the world will be exactly as it’s meant to be. It will be an accurate reflection of the best you could do with what you had at that point in time and it will provide the value to the readers they need in that moment. All is dynamic, but this is what it needs to be now… and maybe you’ll just need a second edition one day. It’s all good.

Whew. Thanks for listening.

Yours truly, Yael Ben-David, Author — forthcoming Fall 2022!