Another ultimate blog idea today - to write about a time when you ignored your intuition.
Well, there have been a few times I've done exactly that. Especially with writing.
In one particular instance, I accepted the inclusion of a particular sentence into my manuscript. I wasn't entirely happy - it didn't 'read' like me - but I did it because the person suggesting it was an agent and knew what they were doing, right? Wrong. When I put the chapter out for feedback, several people picked up on exactly that sentence: it didn't fit.
There have been other occasions since that one - and every time, I've thought afterwards 'I should've gone with my gut'. I think I'm learning to trust my own judgement more in what I write; I certainly follow the rule 'accept, amend or reject' now, as suggested by the wonderful editrix and author, Debi Alper. I still find amend and reject hard to call sometimes, but I'm more comfortable with my final decision.
Following gut instinct might not be the most scientific of editing methods, but I think I get better results. Just got to keep reminding myself to listen to it...
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