L is for Learning Curve

Another letter of the alphabet brought to us by the A to Z challenge.

I struggled to pick the write L word as a couple ideas came to mind when pondering this blog. Editing is a tricky topic for some letters but much easier for others. I could have even gone with letters, for example, but that's a little too minutiae for me. I decided on "learning curve" in the end because overall, editing does have a bit of a learning curve involved, especially for one's first novel.

There is a learning curve to edits. Sure we want things to go right the first time, or by the 5th draft at the very least, but with each novel, we are learning. Even later, if an agent and editor takes interest, there will be more edits and things to change.

We learn what to fix, over time can start to spot our own weaknesses and develop ways of fixing the story the best we can. We also learn when it's time to let go.

There is much to learn when it comes to editing novels, so it's a good thing there is a learning curve involved. And there are probably certain aspects of the first novel that are going to be different than the 5th novel, but that's just a guess.


How much of a learning curve do you think exists for a first novel?