Cherishing and Agonizing
How do I break the habit of cherishing every word I write and agonizing over a finished product. The cherishing hems me up during the editing process. I sit in rewrites saying to myself "I know they are right when they say this is too wordy and cut and slash this, but I like the way this sounds." And then once out of editing I look at a piece, reread and wonder if this or what will be well received etc. :( I need to quit, but not sure how.

When you figure it out, let me know. I still do that--a lot. It's hell trying to stop, really. It's one reason why I'm thrilled to have folks I can run things by and say: what do YOU think? Folks who aren't my editors, but who ARE my readers.

The way i see it, there are two parts to any art-- the art and the craft. Writing everything down is the art-- refining it is the craft, and you have to take off the ego hat just a bit to do it, and be prepared to beat up your baby a little bit! Keep a copy of Strunk And White next to your desk and trust what it tells you. And read other authors -- read the ones who were considered great in the fifties, sixties and seventies, because they are the roots of the way we write right now. I started writing a list of some of my writing heroes, but it got so long so fast! I think I'd better start a new thread...

I am not at all fond of editing. Most of my interest in the piece has elapsed at the close of the first draft so I try to right it as tight as possible ;)

I sometimes get hung up on a particularly nice phrase. If there's really no place for it iin my current work, I steel myself to hook iit out, but make a note of it. You can always re-use it somewhere else. :)

I never stop editing. Even when I’ve finished a story and sent it off, I ‘ll reread it again every few days and still find glaring mistakes or things I’d rather change, though by then, of course, it’s too late to do much about it. When I am fortunate enough to have something accepted for publication, I can’t bear to read it when it comes out because of all those horrible bits I wish I could take out and rewrite again. Jus wondering if anyone else experiences this too. Especially novel writers. Do you read your own books once they're in print? And are there still things you wish you could rewrite over again?

Oh, same here. That's one reason I love posting on the 'net-- over there on Literotica, I've been editing and even re-writing some of my stories and re-posting them. One of my favorites-- one that I thought was the very best thing I'd written-- I would re-write completely now, in a very different way. Go figure, huh?

There's a point where you have to say that's it, it's good enough to please a reader. But if you have doubts, then go revisit your favourite printed novels. Then go critique other people's stories for a while. You can learn way more about your own boo boos from seeing them overdone elsewhere, especially after having read good published fiction for a bit. Then, and only then, go back and edit your own stuff, because that's when your eyes will look at your own work freshly.

My take is that 'published is finished' unless I discover some huge typo (the joy of ebooks is that they can discreetly fix them). Besides, the next book always interests me more than the last one.

Put the manuscript in a drawer for 2 months. When you come back to it you'll have some perspective, and will be able to say "OMG, what in the world was I thinking when I wrote that?"

I've had the wonderful experience of working with editors that I trust and respect. I believe they have my best interests in their minds and that they want to help me write the best story I can write. With that said, there are times I get hung up on wanting something worded exactly how I have it in the MS. If my editor wants to change it, I need to understand that what I've written doesn't carry what I need it to carry. When I "put my foot down" about something, this is how I do it. I explain to my editor why I have it that way. In one MS I used the word "called" and my editor suggested "named" because of what "called" implied in the sentence. What my editor didn't realize is that I WANTED that implication. Once I explained that's what I wanted and why I wanted it, we agreed that called worked. In another MS my editor suggested something totally off the wall. It seemed postively insane to me, but I held off judging it until I wrote the section as she suggested. It's real easy to click a delete button. Those postively insane scenes turned out to work very well. In Full Circle there's a line that's awkward. I didn't want it awkward, but I couldn't figure out how else to group the inherently awkward lines together to say what it needed to say without it being awkward. Instead of putting my food down and saying, "This is the way I want it." I explained what I was trying to do with that line and asked if the editor knew a better way to do it. After a few attempts my editor and I came up with something that I think carries the intent of the line well. Mind you I still LIKE the way I had it the first time, but the sentence isn't nearly as awkward. If you're having a hard time putting this kind of trust into your editors, try getting familar with their work. Most editors are also writers. See what they can do and hopefully you'll develop that trust. Here's another way you can help foster that trust. Learn who our editors are on this board and sub to their publishers. If you get accepted be a sneaky-sneak-sneak and PM them asking if they can be your editor. You obviously trust the people on this board or you wouldn't ask these questiosn here. So, you'll be starting a relationship on the MS with the trust already there. I don't know all of the editors here, but I was postively thrilled to learn that Kay was going to be my editor for Tainted Past and Selling Foxx. If I ever get a title accepted by FB, I know I'm going to be hoping to work with Karen. Editing your baby is very difficult. It's like punishing a child. No one wants to make their children unhappy, but it's for the best. Editing, if done right, is for the best of the MS.

Heh. I am so the opposite. By the time the editor gets back to me I have very little interest and tend to just approve all changes.

Thank you, Cup. I appreciate the vote of confidence. It's damned hard, editing. It's difficult to know when an author can handle blunt speaking and when not. I never intend to upset anyone (and yes, I have), but I'm not a pussyfooting sort of person (and stop thinking about the fetish toy in the other thread *lol*). I prefer to say it plain, then discuss options if the author isn't in accord with first suggestions. I make this clear at the outset, but I still get writers who blow up rather than look at what I say and discuss the ideas with me, why they work, why they don't, what needs primping to make it work, etc. The hardest part of editing, I find, is just getting past the "this manuscript is me and it is personal" stage. I understand how personal it is, but I also have to tell the truth. So, yes, I've had some very bad reactions from those who thought their manuscripts were shit hot but which had lots to fix. :-( As an author, the worst thing about being edited is if the editor's choice is a matter of personal opinion rather than workable syntax. At this point, I like discussion and to know I'm being heard. I expect to have a reason that's based in improvement rather than opinion. So I keep asking for reasons until I get what's being said, or come to understand there is no reason other than opinion, at which point, it's time for discussion about my style as opposed to someone else's. There's a point when you have to let the author's instinct take precedence. I believe this. However, an author needs to be willing to listen in case they missed something, and they always do. That's been my experience this last year. Art may be static once it's finished, but the process of creating it isn't. We can always learn stuff. I've seen this from both the perspective of editor and author. Yeah, it's been a full year since I started editing with FB/WCP. Been quite the trip. Glad I did it, but there have been some rough moments.