Sunday, June 12, 2011

I've got the revision blues . . .

Well, here I am drawing blood, er . . . starting the first round of editor suggested revisions. The email came friday. Not so bad. I'm sure it's perfectly normal to have that many edits on each page, right? Heh, heh. No one just writes a book and has it sent straight to the pressing house. I'm not alone in this (shut up perfect people).

It is painful to see all that things I did wrong, and to hear about the things I should change. But the fact is I am very grateful for my editor. I am lucky, lucky, lucky, and even if I do cringe a little when I see something that I thought was so cute and stylistic being crossed out, I know it's all for the best. Someone who is actually good at this writing stuff has touched my manuscript. They touched and loved on it a little, and that's a fine thing.

But still . . . here's video showing how much fun this whole process is. Have a great Sunday.


12 comments:

  1. Just a question....you write the story and you get edited edited edited edited...is the final product still you? Or is it you better? Or is it unrecognizable? Just curious cause I've never experienced it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, it's still me, but with wordiness and run-on sentences edited out. I would say that a very low percentage of stylistic areas will disappear, but I'll be the only one grieving their absence. It just feels like more because I've grown used to seeing them!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've never experienced this either except for a few times with suggestions from betas. It's hard to let go of the things you love but like you, I guess I know its for the best. :(

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sounds painful, but think how you will feel when the whole process is completed and your book is published. Right now, just grin and bear it. This too shall pass.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Where did you find that video Amy , I loved it! I think it's good that the editor is editing your work. I really loved your story, I thought the plot was very good and I love the way you write so she obviously picked up on that as well. She must have ploughed through thousands of manuscripts and yours was the one she selected so Amy Saia shine on - you'll get there, you will. Love u lots Molly xxxx

    ReplyDelete
  6. T C- It really is for the best. I'm very grateful to be experiencing an edit!

    Starting Over- Very true. Thank you : )

    Molly- Thank you Molly! I'm glad that you read it, even in the rough stages xxxx

    ReplyDelete
  7. This post just cracks me up! Your book is going to be SO amazingly good!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Just imagine some time in the future when you are the senior editor at a top publishing house. You have a big box of pencils on your desk, and some first timer sends you a manuscript. Imagine what fun you'd have scrawling all over their perfect blood-sweated words. I think it's simply called POWER.

    Had yours been passed to a different editor, the scrawling would probably have been totally different!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Karen- I hope so : )

    Cro- Aw, I have a new love for editors now. I never had a lack of love, per se, but now I have full true love. They do such good work, and hardly get the attention they deserve. You make a really good point though. It would be interesting to see how differently two editors mark up the same manuscript.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I feel you. My book went through about 6 rounds of edits with my publisher. I really enjoyed the process. I even wrote a blog post called "Editors and Spiderman" because they're basically superhero's ;)

    Congrats on the upcoming publication and hang in there with edits!

    Thanks for sharing your experience - great post!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Steven, thank you for the comments!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh, I hear you. It hurts, it hurts... *clutches heart* But in the end, it's stronger and better than you'd ever imagined and all worth it! :) Or so I tell myself. Now where's my wine?

    ReplyDelete

A Millennial romp through Jane Austen

  A few years back I wrote this story about a fifteen-year-old girl named Frankie drudging through a very complicated life in a fictional sm...