I’m finishing up revisions to Tiernay West, Professional Adventurer, and so thinking about why I actually enjoy the revision process more often than not.
Part of it is that, when I work on a story, deep down I want it to be perfect. Yet also deep down, I know this isn’t ever, ever going to happen, and I hate that. (Neverminding the problems of perfect being different for every reader on the planet anyway.)
So I do the best I can, and I send the story out.
But when I get a revision letter–assuming the comments are on target, which fortunately has been the case more often than not for me–it’s a chance to move the book closer to perfect. I still won’t get there–but I get another chance to try.
Put another way: it’s not about me. It’s about the story. When I get deep into a project, the story is what matters, and anything that makes it better is for the good.