Getting "fixed"

I am feeling a little blue this morning. My baby dog, Tinkerbell, had to go into the vet's to get "fixed". Yeah, I know, that is a responsible thing to do for a pet owner, but Tink didn't think so. She whined to get in the car, and then when there, she cried to get out. She knows a car ride almost always involves a stinky vet's office.

Then once we got there, she trembled all over like she had some terrible nerve disorder right up until the time the assistant came to take her back. I tried to make her feel better, calling her a good girl, and snuggling with her. The look of terror in her eyes as she was whisked away told the true tale.

Now what in tarnation does this have to do with writing?

It's analogy time, folks. Because it's scary to "fix" our beloved kitties and puppies and it's terrifying to fix our writing. But fix it we must. Why? To prevent unwanted "critters" from showing up, of course. If you do not go through your work with that proverbial fine-toothed comb and pull out all of the unneeded words, stilted language, plot going into a corner, you will lose your reader.

I personally find this scary, but once I am into it, I am pretty happy. It frees me to find the nuggets of story that are worthy to be in a book with my name on it. Writing a novel takes time, and fixing it equally so, but the end result is always worth the trauma.

I sure hope my baby girl thinks so when I pick her up tonight.