Learning by my mistakes

It's funny how things that jump out at me as obvious flaws in someone else's writing, I completely fail to see in my own. Today, as I finished yet another revision of my first chapter, it finally dawned on me that I wasn't allowing the reader into my heroine's head; there were far to many 'she thought that...'s or she wondered if...'s, rather than communicating her thoughts directly. Using too many phrases such as 'she thought that...' puts a barrier between the reader and the character, distancing the reader from the story.

Now, I've known about that for some time - I've read How To books and articles that have explained it in great detail. So why couldn't I get it right first time?

I think the answer lies in me being someone who learns by doing. Knowledge only really sinks in when I make a mistake, puzzle out what I've done wrong and then correct it. Unfortunately it means that I'm having to spend far longer on editing than it took me to write the first draft! I had a moment this afternoon when I was tempted to chuck this story in and just start on another one, but thankfully that didn't last long. I'm determined to get this ms to the stage where I can send a partial off to M&B just to see if I've reached the standard that at least merits some feedback along with a rejection! So I'm carrying on.

I'm going to have to revise my submission date, though. I'd wanted to submit by Easter, but as I'm off on holiday for a fortnight next Tuesday, there's no way I'm going to achieve that. April's an incredibly busy month for me, so I'm going to move my deadline to the end of May. Wish me luck!