My baby

A colleague at work asked about my baby the other day.
Without missing a beat I asked: You mean my manuscript?
It turned out he had me mixed up with another colleague. BUT there was an awkward moment — or two or three — when he realised I was NOT joking about my manuscript.
Here are the top 10 reasons why a manuscript is like a baby:
- It spends nine months — and often longer — in germination.
- It keeps you awake at night.
- You want to punch people who criticise it, but then you spend weeks worrying that its nose really is too big.
- You buy books and trawl the web seeking advice on how to look after it, but in the end it comes down to instinct.
- You celebrate finishing the first chapter like a parent celebrates a first step.
- You cannot wait to put it to bed, but when you do you want to pick it up again.
- You are riddled with guilt when you spend time away from it.
- If it gets sick you forget to eat, shower or answer the phone until you have fixed it.
- You talk to it and often it talks back.
- You know that one day you will have to cut the apron strings and let it go out into the wide world.
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