As a writer, there’s probably nothing more difficult than editing your story. If you’ve done good research and planning and you get into a creative flow, writing is the easy part. It’s what comes afterward—editing—that can often push your patience to its limits and leave you doubting pretty much everything about your book. Editing can make or break your story. It’s an exercise that separates the successful from the quitters.

As you know from following my blog, I’m currently doing the final edit of my novel Planet of Eden. It’s a slow, grueling process. Chapter by chapter, page by page, line by line, word by word—I scrutinize and question everything. From simple grammar to story continuity, it all has to be perfect after this stage, because what comes next is publishing. Finishing this project excites me. I see light at the end of the tunnel, but I dare not get sloppy.

Life Edits

All of this editing got me thinking today about editing your story. What story? Your life story. As popular writer John Eldrege says in his book titled Epic, your life—the journey you’re on—is a story. I’ll add to that by saying your story is like a book with many chapters. Some chapters are complete; they’re your history. The present page represents today. You’re still writing that one. Then, there are your future pages—blank ones that are waiting for the story to continue.

You can’t edit your past. You don’t get to go backward in time and fix things you don’t like in that part of the story. And if you try to rip those pages out, you’re really only denying they happened. Better to let them be. Let them remain the foundation for what’s to come, no matter how difficult those chapters and pages were. Likewise, the future pages of your life are still blank, so you can’t edit those either. Don’t focus on those empty pages. Keep the past chapters and the future ones closed and work on editing your current chapter.

Deep Dive

Let’s go deeper with this analogy. Look closely at the current chapter of your life. Does it satisfy you? Could it use some editing? Does it need small tweaks, minor corrections, or massive edits? Do you need to make location changes? Should you delete entire scenes? Maybe you’ll have to remove some bad characters from your story. Or perhaps you just need to clarify your plot direction. If you’ve written the present chapter, don’t think it’s finished! You can still make edits before you move on to the next chapter. You can even rewrite entire pages right now if you have to. The point is that you’re still living in this chapter of your life story, so now is the time to get editing. Scrutinize it. Study it. Make it the chapter you want it to be, even if the edits are difficult.

In this chapter of your life, there may be things to remove and there may be things to add so you can make it a great chapter. If you need advice on how to edit, there are people who can help you. Authors enlist the help of editors who make suggestions to improve our books. In everyday life, all of us have editors who can help us to improve our life stories—counselors, pastors, mentors, friends, spouses, and families. And don’t leave out the God who began your story; have you asked Him how you should edit it? Ultimately, each of us has the freedom to determine our editing. It’s your chapter, and you have to do the work. You have to self-edit after everyone else has helped to give you direction. And you know what? You can do it!

Your Challenge

Editing your story can be challenging, but it’s also very rewarding. As I struggle to get through my book’s chapters, I’m learning and improving. The process is making me a better editor, but more importantly a better writer. I don’t make the same mistakes I used to make when I first put words to page. Also, I look forward to those blank pages ahead of me, still to be written, knowing my craft has improved. Because I’m putting in the hard work of editing today, I’ll produce a perfect product, and I’ll create awesome stories after this one is complete.

We can think the same way about editing our life stories. If you’re dissatisfied with yours right now, take a few steps back, get clarity, and then attack the story with editing in mind. Seek trusted helpers. Analyze, go back to your research, tweak, make corrections, delete, add, direct, get back on track, and produce the best chapter in your life that you can make. Then, when the next chapter begins, you’ll go into it with confidence, strength, and perseverance. Here’s to editing your story.