According to psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, the five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Most writers will recognise these as matching precisely the five stages of receiving editorial feedback on a manuscript. As in:
- Denial – “I refuse to believe that what I’ve written is anything other than an award-winning piece of bestselling prose!”
- Anger – “How dare you pick holes in something I’ve sweated blood over for the past year?!”
- Bargaining – “If I change the title, will you please overlook the gaping holes in the plot?”
- Depression – “I knew it. It’s a pile of crap. I am truly the most talentless writer who ever lived.”
- Acceptance – “Actually, you’ve got a point. When do you need the second draft?”
Why am I telling you this? Because I’ve recently received editorial feedback on a manuscript I wrote earlier this year. The notes I’ve got are pithy, insightful and entirely fair. Many of them echo concerns I had about the novel going in. So, I’m preparing to launch into a rewrite.
I know what you’re wondering. When I read through the editorial notes, did I actually go through the five stages listed above? Of course I didn’t! What do you take me for? I can categorically assure you, without any word of a lie, that I skipped right over the first four and went straight to number five.
What do you think I am – some kind of drama queen?
Graham Edwards 
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