Readers ask if I really edit my work over and over, even returning to published works to revise them again before they’re reprinted.

My answer is shown in the photo below. Those pages are from a previously published short story that was revised several times after the original publication and was already copyedited for my new collection, Walking With Ghosts.The story is one of my favorites and will be leading off Walking With Ghosts.

And yet the image above shows what happened when I sat down to give the manuscript a “quick proofread” before posting it on here for my Patreon supporters. And those are just some of the pages. (I hope to actually have the story ready to post next week, just FYI!)

It’s in my nature to try to get the story “just right.” I don’t know if I’m lacking something as a writer or if I’m simply insecure with the final results. All I know is the story matters to me. Getting the words right matters to me.

And thus I continue to edit and revise my stories whenever possible even to the detriment of my overall writing output. I write and publish less than I would like, but hopefully the finished works are just a little bit better than they would have been otherwise.

Also, I cannot wait to tell my copyeditor that he gets to look this story over yet again. He will be thrilled.