Why is this so easy to do when I’m editing but not when I’m writing in the first place? In fact, it can even be difficult to find problem words when editing my own work. It’s amazing how many times I can go through my own novel and still, after read-through 624, I say to myself, ‘Ew! Why did I put it that way?’ or ‘Why did I use that word? That’s dumb!’.

I guess that’s why having your book edited by someone else is so important, although they can miss stuff too. An edit of book two in my trilogy was recently returned to me, and after I’d fixed up all the things she pointed out I still found other things that neither of us discovered previously! For me, the hardest thing about seeing my book in print is knowing that I can’t change it now. It’s too late – it’s on the page and out there for all to see. But I think that shows just how important continuous editing is.