revisions & other suicide-worthy adventures
So this week...&, okay, last week, too...I've been struggling with revisions for the dragon novella that will be in the HOTTER THAN HELL anthology coming out from HarperCollins in late 2008. (Kim-ohmigod-Harrison editing, remember? *g*)
And may I just say that I do not enjoy revisions. I hate them. They give me a migraine. Hives. They make me want to crawl into a dark cave & hide away from the world until the editor forgets I ever existed. In short, I'm not a fan. But, alas, revisions come with the territory, so when an editor asks, I take a couple aspirin, rub on some calamine lotion, & get to work.
Unfortunately for this set of revisions, they were rather extensive, so they've been taking me a while. (Remember how this story was supposed to be hot-hot-hot? Well, apparently the authors took the publisher at their word & ended up getting a little too warm, so we were all asked to tone things down a tad. Don't worry, though, my story will still be plenty toasty. :-)) And, yeah, I have to admit that I actually liked portions of the original better than the way I'm being asked to change it. Of course, most writers probably think their stories are perfect from the get-go & require no adjustments at all, so that could be an ego thing. *g*
I guess that's the difference between writing for pleasure & writing as a job. When you write as a hobby, just for yourself, you can do whatever you darn well please, & no one can come along & tell you your characters fall flat or your plot line doesn't hold water. Or they can, but you can stick your fingers in your ears & pretend not to be listening, then go on your merry way & still do exactly what you want. When your professional occupation is writing, you've got an editor who is essentially your boss, & while you don't have to roll over & do everything they ask you to...thank God for editors who are open to discussion, brainstorming sessions, & compromise!...you do have to keep your fingers out of your ears & be willing to bend.
And, hey, what do I know? Maybe all this revision is actually making the story better. ;-P
And may I just say that I do not enjoy revisions. I hate them. They give me a migraine. Hives. They make me want to crawl into a dark cave & hide away from the world until the editor forgets I ever existed. In short, I'm not a fan. But, alas, revisions come with the territory, so when an editor asks, I take a couple aspirin, rub on some calamine lotion, & get to work.
Unfortunately for this set of revisions, they were rather extensive, so they've been taking me a while. (Remember how this story was supposed to be hot-hot-hot? Well, apparently the authors took the publisher at their word & ended up getting a little too warm, so we were all asked to tone things down a tad. Don't worry, though, my story will still be plenty toasty. :-)) And, yeah, I have to admit that I actually liked portions of the original better than the way I'm being asked to change it. Of course, most writers probably think their stories are perfect from the get-go & require no adjustments at all, so that could be an ego thing. *g*
I guess that's the difference between writing for pleasure & writing as a job. When you write as a hobby, just for yourself, you can do whatever you darn well please, & no one can come along & tell you your characters fall flat or your plot line doesn't hold water. Or they can, but you can stick your fingers in your ears & pretend not to be listening, then go on your merry way & still do exactly what you want. When your professional occupation is writing, you've got an editor who is essentially your boss, & while you don't have to roll over & do everything they ask you to...thank God for editors who are open to discussion, brainstorming sessions, & compromise!...you do have to keep your fingers out of your ears & be willing to bend.
And, hey, what do I know? Maybe all this revision is actually making the story better. ;-P
Currently reading Southern Exposure by Karen Kelley
Labels: dragon novella, HarperCollins, revisions
