Perseverance Leads to Progress

Perseverance leads to progress, especially in writing.

Due to long-time perseverance, my latest novel, Ella Travels the Erie Canal, is now available on Amazon. As the first of six books in my historical fiction series, it resulted from my work during the pandemic.

I took time to analyze my work during Covid.

A fresh look at my writing gems revealed problems. The initial glitter from these jewels faded now that I had grown as a writer. I examined them after a few years had passed and discovered the gems had rough edges. The stories could definitely be improved. What to do?

I had to make an agonizing decision.

Should I toss these novels into the trash can, or should I salvage them? How tempting it would have been to crumple them into a ball and burn them! Yet these stories did have merit. For one thing, they contained valuable historical information.

Not much is written about the upstate New York area. People often hear about Williamsburg or Boston. But few readers ever hear about small town life near the Canadian border. That area has a unique, but lesser known, history.

On top of that, the characters in my stories begged me for a second chance. I could hardly kill them off when they had become old friends.

The decision brought difficulties.


My decision to edit turned out to be a bumpy road with twists and turns and roadblocks along the way. In the beginning, I expected this work to be a quick trip. I could finish it in a week, or maybe two, right?

Actually, it took the entire pandemic to complete. Since I was also recovering from health problems during this period, I closed down my blog and eliminated distractions to focus on this monumental task.

My work became more powerful.

I went through each of the stories, scene by scene, to improve their visual content. I imagined each scene and added vivid details and more action. This made the scenes come alive, and I felt encouraged.

After I finished the six books, I went over them again to search for weak words. I could no longer prop up weak verbs with crutches, so I replaced them with stronger verbs. This took a good deal of time, but the results impressed me.

Editing is vital but can be brutal.

My experience was a rough ride over mountainous roads, and several times I had to rescue my characters when they drove over a cliff. Sometimes I wanted to tear my hair out in frustration. I found this task endless and almost too tedious to continue. However, I wanted to do a thorough job, so I kept on plodding.

I had to fight discouragement.

Almost halfway through the project, I worked extra hard, driven to finish. The work moved at a painstakingly slow pace, and I yearned for more progress. Some days seemed like they went backward instead of forward.

For example, I attempted to eliminate annoying weasel words, but then more unnecessary words popped up in the text. This game of whack-a-mole continued for some time before it finally ended. I hope by now I have achieved a weasel-free manuscript.

After I finished my corrections and additions, I had the entire series professionally edited and then had a designer make a new cover.

The results proved worthwhile.

Although I had been tempted to quit, now I’m glad I didn’t. Not only did the results please me, but I received benefits as well. For one thing, this project kept me busy during the terrible pandemic. Thanks to the continuous challenge, I can truthfully say I was never bored. Not once! Also, it taught me better ways to write.

My perseverance led to progress, too. I now have a finished book to show for my efforts, and five more books in the series will soon appear. A Kindle version of the story will soon be available, too.

If you care to view the book or to purchase a copy, you can go to Amazon.com and type in Ella Travels the Erie Canal.

Despite the setbacks I experienced, my perseverance definitely resulted in positive changes for my books. I rejoice that God had given me this wonderful opportunity. Without the pandemic, I probably wouldn’t have taken the time to go back and review my work.