When and Where to Prune

Wednesday evening I was watching a show called Chicago Tonight on WTTW in Chicago. Phil Ponce interviewed an expert from the Chicago Botanical Garden.

One of the topics was it's not too early to prune. Right now, you can look for spots dead or damaged from winter and cut them off.

That said, she also mentioned you need to know your plants and bushes. With some of them, it's better to wait until they've fully flowered before pruning them, or else you may cut off where the flowers were going to bloom.

Of course, the topic reminded me of editing. I have the terrible habit of editing too closely when I'm writing my manuscript. I should be eliminating the obvious mistakes, then going on to the finish line. Then I can go back and remove or rearrange what doesn't work. When it's all done and I believe I've done my best, I'll hand it over to a professional editor, like Helen Ginger, who did a great job editing my romantic suspense, Killer Career. 

Anyway, for now, I'll keep reminding myself to forge ahead. Let's see if it works.

What about you? Do you know when and where to prune?