Editor's Block?

I think I'm suffering from something I've decided to term editor's block. That being, I can't make myself sit and do my editing work on my book.

And it's not that I don't know what to do. I've got at least a dozen pages marked up in red and ready to be edited. Like right this second if I were to decide to do it. Which I haven't, because I'm writing this blog instead and trying to formulate other ways to procrastinate.

I've determined that I think I'm blocking myself on purpose because I'm afraid of moving forward. Afraid of finishing. Afraid it will be all for naught. Because as long as I don't have anything finished, and as long as I'm not engaging in that whole editing process, I can't really judge it can I? And herein is where I make myself stuck.

Because what happens if my judgment, real or imaginary, says that it just sucks? Then what?

When you identify yourself as a writer and make it a huge part of your life purpose, facing up to your work to see if you deserve that title is a really scary thing to do. And it's such a hugely personal thing that it's almost like taking a close look at yourself to see if you're really worth anything at the end of the day.

But by golly, says I, I will not succumb to editor's block and fear of failure! I will read my last blog post about finding time to write (the wine failed that night, by the way), and I will pick something from that list, and I will just do it like Nike.

Writing is a hard profession. For some people words flow out really easily (that even applies to me a lot of the times). But the words aren't always good, and that's true of everyone. And when the words need to be fixed (which is almost all of the time), editing can be a really challenging experience as you grapple with stuff like: How can this be fixed? Should I even bother? Is this any better? Is it worse? I can't tell anymore.

But how will I ever figure it out if I'm too scared to look? Anyone else have this problem?