Edits: Best With A Dose Of AW

Can I tell you something? Come closer.

AW (the network for writers) deserves a fair size of my devotion. Why? Because as I've been editing my heart out this week, the forums have been crucial to my progress. But it's not what you think. It's more than the wealth of knowledge, the leagues of support, found among the threads.

Scenario:

My Word doc window is up; I'm fine-tuning the narrative and tweaking the flow. But then an awkward phrase sneaks up and I'm stuck. My brain can't work out the proper edit, not just yet, and my thoughts have to stew for a bit. But to stare at the words in front of me, willing the right changes to appear, would be a bad thing. I have to redirect my attention while my writer's mind figures out, subconsciously, what to do. So I jump to another window, the one with AW. I check my subscribed threads, banter with my buddies and peruse the boards. I recheck my manuscript, thinking almost there, and hop back to AW again. But during the next minute or two spent in Office Party or Novel Writing (specific threads), something clicks. My brain begins to whir, my juices start to flow, and I can face that icky part of the manuscript again. I pull it up and watch as unfolds before me. The appropriate words come to me and the story moves ahead, better than I could have imagined.

Thank you, AW. Thank you.