Alas poor Muse.. I knew her well..
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I've been bemoaning the loss of my muse in the latest 30:30 round. I suppose I can be forgiven knowing that I'm on my 9th round, but I'd rather have inspiration and a grudge if you know what I mean.

But it brings up an interesting question: when you write, how much self-editing do you do?

See, what I'm finding is that I start putting words to paper (or screen as it happens) I find myself stopping before I put a word down and replacing it with something else. Or rehearsing a line until it fits the space. And then other times I write in one great long stream that just seems to have those choices made without my conscious awareness.

I think about it alot, though - how writing becomes. Am I better at it than I was because I don't do as much hardcopy editing as I used to? Or have I just given myself delusions of capability?

How do you know if you're getting better or not? And where do you go to get better? (Okay, be honest... how many of you are snobby and already graduate your opinion of crits and such based on who gives them?)

So many questions, huh?