There are reasons to quit and more reasons not to. The one reason that hovers above all is that everything we do in life needs revision. We are never through evolving into more thoughtful, loving, or wise human beings. Every day there is an opportunity to revise your valor and conviction.
Revising the position you sit, walk, talk, judge, form opinions, contribute to your home, friends, partners, and discovering what you’ve learned, dreamed, and mastered, is your novel. How to write a chapter when you feel caught; trapped by decisions that are outdated. Antiquities of a former persona.
Changes in life are like photographic images. Looking at old photographs and what I see is someone else. Some are recalled with approval and others are works that led me astray. I’m not alone. Life is a runaway that we have to catch for ourselves.
The puzzle is how to live, where to live, and for whom. It is the same with manuscripts; they improve with each revision.
The inner voice where gaps of expression are liberated. 
You’re right. Self-examination and therefore self-revision is a never ending process. With a manuscript, however, it seems to me that, sooner or later, it probably does have an end…
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A great post and well written. Very catchy phrase this Antiquities of a former persona.
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Well said! My editing skills took a massive leap forward when I finally bit the bullet and forced myself to admit that any given book I write will REQUIRE several thorough edits to be acceptably similar to my vision for it, and for maximum reader enjoyment–and then made the appropriate adjustments in my writing life to accommodate this reality.
I’m currently STEEPED in the final edits on my newest book, a memoir called REBEL HELL: DISABLED VEGAN GOES TO PRISON. It’s hellacious–but the final product will reflect the staggering amount of work that went into it =)
~Love & Liberation~
Jan Smitowicz
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