Perhaps it’s just me. I know that a lot of people are very gung-ho about publishing their works instantly from the hot digital ink of the screen, so to speak. They laugh at others going at a slow, gangly pace, trying to figure out how to revise or rewrite—gosh, doesn’t that just show that you lack confidence in your own work? Live a little!

But I don’t think it’s a lack of confidence. I think it’s a stronger confidence than that of people who just hit Scrivener’s compile-to-epub button. It’s the courage to look back on your work, acknowledge that it needs further work, and then to roll up your selves and do the work because you know that your readers’ experiences (and your own) will benefit from it.

It’s also the courage to let others take an intimate and painful bash at your work before you send it out to a world where you can pretend that criticism doesn’t really exist and if it does, they just don’t ~~understand~~ you. There’s a difference (for most people) between a little Amazon review and the beta readers that say, “This doesn’t work. At all. This makes no sense. This comes out of nowhere. Why is your character doing this?” There’s a difference between a book review from a third party you never met and a crushing edit from a professional editor who you pay to not yes-person through the manuscript.

All of this takes a bravery that frankly makes me stand in awe of anyone who would do this.

Splatting the first draft to Smashwords? Not so much.

Anyways, I understand the desire to splat it out fresh from the pan. I’ve done it myself. Instant gratification is a powerful motivator—but life is too short to screw up your reputation with published bad stories.

Back to reading Bell’s Plot & Structure, which has already saved one of my prospective beta readers from bearing through scenes that rate 0-1 on the intensity scale, around the terminal boredom mark.