Allison New asked Roshani Chokshi:

I came across a review for Aru Shah and the End of Time. I'm a middle school educator and I'm looking forward to reading it. It sounds really interesting and fun. I write in my spare time, but I often get overwhelmed by the editing process. How do you edit without going crazy?

Roshani Chokshi First, thank you both for your interest and for all that you do as an educator! :) Second . . . I am constantly overwhelmed. I am constantly laughing hysterically, waltzing around with my cat and singing: "how did I trick so many people into thinking I can turn this in on tiiiiiiiiime"?!!?!?! For me, a certain degree of writing in fugue states is normal. I'm not saying that every writing experience has to feel like you're a mad scientist (GENIUS! GENIUS, I SAY!!!) but it's completely normal. What works for me is finding hours of the day where I am 100% committed to the story. There are weeks where I wake up consistently around 5 a.m., put my phone on airplane mode without checking email, and just get the editing/writing done. I also do not edit until something is finished. That doesn't work for everyone. If it's driving you nuts, get to half the book, outline the rest . . . then finish up the next half. My process changes for every project. I hope that helps!

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