In the process of editing your book, it is normal that
you will become tired of it, frustrated, even despairing. And then if you’re
really lucky, you may hit the “I hate this book” stage of writing burnout. This
usually happens right during the copyediting stage. You don’t care about that
comma because you want to light the whole book on fire. You aren’t sure if you
ever want to write again, but if you do, it will be nothing ever like this
book.I suppose that in some sense, this may be healthy
because once the book is printed, there’s nothing you can do about it anymore.
You may need some emotional distance because reviews will be coming in, both
professional and not, and if they hate the book, some part of you may be able
to nod and think—they’re not entirely wrong about that. Of course, you can’t
say that out loud to anyone. Ever. Or even given the slightest hint about
hating your book that is now on sale and the publisher expects you to promote.
But amongst writer friends, you can vent about this. You may be surprised at
how many authors also admit that they hate their book.Some of the reasons you hate your book:
1. You’ve
read it too many times and you can’t read a single word one single more time.2. You
started writing it when you were someone else and it doesn’t really reflect who
you are anymore.3. You
see too many flaws and can’t figure out the way to fix them.4. You
are just sick and tired of this world, these characters and their problems, and
wish they would all go to hell.5. You
are jaded because of the publishing process. It may have taken ten years AFTER
the contract was signed before the book was published. You may have gone
through multiple illustrators (if you’re working in picture books), multiple
editors, even multiple publishers. It’s not the book’s fault, but all you can
think about when you think about the book is all that angst.6. The
language isn’t what you want it to be, but you don’t know how to make it what
you want it to be right now.7. It’s
not a good time in your life. There are sometimes outside factors that affect
your relationship to your book, and even if they don’t cause writer’s block,
they can make you hate everything you write.8. Being
a writer under deadline hasn’t turned out to be what you thought it would be.
You just need more TIME to get it right.9. You
have nightmares of every person you’ve ever met and told you wanted to be a
writer reading this and seeing every flaw in your personality, your character,
and your education in it. They’re never going to read it and think that you
made good on your promise.10. The
book jumped the shark. You don’t know where it did or how to go back to a draft
before that moment, but it doesn’t matter because you just have to finish it
and get on to the next book.11. It’s
not this book you hate, it’s the fact that you soon have to be working on the
sequel to this book, which will require you to work around all the impossible
problems you didn’t solve in this one. And somehow get them right.Writing isn’t for the
faint of heart. It’s a Herculean task, carrying a whole world of words on your
shoulders. My salute to you if you are in this difficult place! And any time
you need to talk about it behind the scenes, I’ll be there.