We all say we want people to be honest with us, but that's kind of a lie, isn't it?
See, when an artist submits her or his work for consideration--an artist has a gallery show, an actor has a play, a writer has a book--we all say to our audiences, "Now, tell me honestly--how was it?" But what we're really saying is, "tell me you like it and therefore like me and tell me everything wonderful about it and then maybe if you absolutely have to mention something that wasn't divinely perfect."
Okay, maybe I am exaggerating slightly, but not much.
All this is prelude to mentioning that I have my first round of edits to Aftermath from the editor at EDGE Publishing. Turns out it is the same person who edited Silent Manifest, so we've worked together before. Of course, me being myself, I did not recognize her name and introduced myself. She gracefully mentioned we'd already worked together. So strike one on Your Humble Narrator.
The edits are direct and blunt, which is of course the best way to do them, but I have to confess an initial sting to reading them. Is that immature on my part? Of course. A mature person can still be immature from time to time.
But the worst thing about the edits is that at least one of them--something that is, if not fundamental to both novels, at least very significant--is absolutely correct. I won't get into specifics in this post, but suffice to say the editor saw through the socio-emotional shell game I think I was playing and called the story out on it.
How DARE she be so right and so direct? Doesn't she know she's supposed to fawn over the Mighty Author and bask in the radiant glory of my prose for forty days and nights before she has the TEMERITY to suggest it may fall short of perfection?
Lest you think I am a literary pushover who cannot or will not fight for his own point of view, there are other edits I do not think are justified: I'll explain my point of view secure in the knowledge that the editor is a professional and will listen.
It's refreshing to know, however, that I will be working with someone who is by no means afraid to point out weaknesses in my story--we both want to improve it to make it the best it can be. Perhaps, in some imagined future, I'll be able to submit manuscripts that are taken by publishers "as is," but for now, I am eager to see how I can improve Aftermath.
And it will only sting a little bit!
Be seeing you!
See, when an artist submits her or his work for consideration--an artist has a gallery show, an actor has a play, a writer has a book--we all say to our audiences, "Now, tell me honestly--how was it?" But what we're really saying is, "tell me you like it and therefore like me and tell me everything wonderful about it and then maybe if you absolutely have to mention something that wasn't divinely perfect."
Okay, maybe I am exaggerating slightly, but not much.
All this is prelude to mentioning that I have my first round of edits to Aftermath from the editor at EDGE Publishing. Turns out it is the same person who edited Silent Manifest, so we've worked together before. Of course, me being myself, I did not recognize her name and introduced myself. She gracefully mentioned we'd already worked together. So strike one on Your Humble Narrator.
The edits are direct and blunt, which is of course the best way to do them, but I have to confess an initial sting to reading them. Is that immature on my part? Of course. A mature person can still be immature from time to time.
But the worst thing about the edits is that at least one of them--something that is, if not fundamental to both novels, at least very significant--is absolutely correct. I won't get into specifics in this post, but suffice to say the editor saw through the socio-emotional shell game I think I was playing and called the story out on it.
How DARE she be so right and so direct? Doesn't she know she's supposed to fawn over the Mighty Author and bask in the radiant glory of my prose for forty days and nights before she has the TEMERITY to suggest it may fall short of perfection?
Lest you think I am a literary pushover who cannot or will not fight for his own point of view, there are other edits I do not think are justified: I'll explain my point of view secure in the knowledge that the editor is a professional and will listen.
It's refreshing to know, however, that I will be working with someone who is by no means afraid to point out weaknesses in my story--we both want to improve it to make it the best it can be. Perhaps, in some imagined future, I'll be able to submit manuscripts that are taken by publishers "as is," but for now, I am eager to see how I can improve Aftermath.
And it will only sting a little bit!
Be seeing you!
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