Manuscript love is a vanity you cannot afford

 Leaving your work to gather dust helps the faults shine through.

Love is blind goes the old saying, and when you're busy writing and editing a manuscript there can be no doubt you are in love. In love with your clever word choice, your sentence construction and your sneaky plotting; you love your own writing...

Well you should do. If you don't, it's doubtful you'll cook-up enough enthusiasm to make anybody else enjoy the literary meal.

But there is a nasty, evil side effect. When you love your work, you are apt to forgive it it's sins and overlook the imperfections in its smile. When it comes to writing books, Love, really is blind.

Luckily, there is a solution to the problem. Stick the manuscript in the draw and forget about it for as long as you can, before subsequent drafts. Let it gather dust, let your perspective evolve and sure enough, when you revisit you'll see all the warts and blemishes your love-struck eyes missed during the writing.