Professional Decision Makers

One of my friends recently said, "Writers are professional decision makers." He got the quote from somewhere else, not sure where--but it's true no matter where it originated. Every word, sentence, paragraph, scene, chapter break...whose POV do I use here? What's going to happen next? What's her motivation? Is it strong enough to make her do that? Should that character die?

Decisions, decisions, decisions. Some of them easy, some of them not. And in some of them, you don't get any say, like when a character does something you didn't plan for...and you realize it's just what they were supposed to do.

After last night, I'm realizing that revising and editing are very much the same as writing. The difference is that you can't ignore the questions and say, "I'll worry about it when I revise...."

Most of the decisions are smaller-scale, of course...Should I break apart those two independent clauses into two sentences? Should I move this scene? What's that damn word I'm looking for? Should I back off on the foreshadowing? Should I take out that adverb, or leave it there?

In short: erg.

And making so many decisions can be exhausting. I was brain-dead after 45 pages last night. I never wanted to think again.

And this morning, just like when I start writing something, I can't wait to get my grubby little hands on it. I'm approaching the middle/muddle, during which I'm going to have to make MANY changes, some of them big ones that require a great deal of thought. And yet, I can't wait.

Have to edit!

-Kristin B.