The ‘naked truth‘ is, I’ll bet you can’t count the number of times you use one or more of these euphemisms in your every day conversation. I doubt old Will realized where his words would travel to and for how long. We writers just hope someone will read what we write. But, to have one’s words live on, after we’re ‘dead as a doornail‘ and not ‘vanish into thin air’ decades or centuries later, well, the possibility makes my ‘hair stand on end‘.
Yeah, I’m playing with you.
William Shakespeare wasn’t born (1564) famous… He struggled, starved, and was mocked just like the rest of us crazies who write stories.
He stood back stage or at the back of the theatre and chewed his nails while the actors brought his stories to life. ‘Though more is known about Shakespeare’s life than most other Elizabethan and Jacobean writers, because of his social status as a commoner, the low esteem in which his profession was held and the general disinterest of the time in the personal lives of writers, few personal biographical facts about Shakespeare survived.’ (Wikipedia) But, I feel certain that he experienced the same doubts, discouragement, and criticism that we, as writers, must endure. The highs are infrequent, but when they do happen, it’s euphoria!
To be a writer is not for the ‘faint hearted’ It’s grueling, lonely work. And then when you’ve finished writing a story, going back over it time and time again, you send it out into the world like a child into traffic. And, at least, for this writer you really don’t know (ever) if it’s any good or not. Will anyone read it? Will anyone even see it?
Now, here’s the good news. There are professional editors who pick your work apart and then help you put it back together. The end result being, a much better book. I have learned from this recent experience that I can’t do it myself. You need that special eye; catching the repetitive words, the mixed POV’s, (point of view), ‘telling’ versus a character’s POV, and the bad grammar.
Oh, it will ‘set your teeth on edge‘ and you’ll wait with ‘baited breath‘ for the next critique. You’ll want to ‘send him packing‘ yelling ‘good riddance‘ to his back, as he leaves. But ‘come what may’ the ‘naked truth’ is your editor makes you a better writer!
One of the things I recognized while wading through Shakespeare in high school and college was all the phrases we use that were originally his. And I agree with you 1000% on the value of an editor!