It was great having Elissa stop by yesterday – I love having guest authors. I always learn so much from them whether it’s their story to publication or just their process of writing. Always fun.
So since Melissa started the week with the dreaded “R” – rejection. I shall continue with another “R” – revision.
Ugh. I know which one is worse – “rejection.” But revision is tons of work. Sigh. Especially after the monumental task of completing a book. You type “the end” and you know it is fantabulous. You see it on the top of the NYT bestseller list. It’s funny, it’s poignant, it’s downright GOOD. So you take a deep breath, struggle over a brilliant query letter and send it out (with a prayer.) Then about six months later you open the mailbox, root through the bills and junk, and there it is. Your heart hits your toes and, if you are me, you try to act nonchalant even though your pulse is racing and your heart is pounding (in your toes, of course 
). You look at the envelope long and hard, take a deep breath, and rip that sucker open. Because you know. You know it is the dreaded “R” – the rejection.
But, you look at it. It’s not. It’s…wait a sec…a revision letter? Huh? And then your heart soars. Yippee! It’s not a rejection. It’s not like all the others! It’s…uh…a lot of work. And then you realize what you failed to realize when you typed “the end” so long ago. Your beautiful, polished manuscript that seemed destined to stop editors’ hearts is not perfect. It’s far from perfect. Darn.
Okay, I guess you can see where I am in my career. It’ s not a bad place to be, but a scary one. Revision City – where everything is uncertain. And that’s what frightens me because that story that I cranked out seemed so perfect. I mean, I checked. There was an arc. No POV slips. Good dialogue. Steamy sex. Likable characters. And now I’ve got to change it? What if it loses something? What if it no longer makes sense to me, the creator? What if I take something that has merit, potential, whatever, and toast it with my revisions? See what I mean about uncertainty?
So right now, I feel like I’m on a road with several branching paths and I’ve got to pick one. Sure, I’ve got the editor’s map, but it’s a bit like Mapquest. You think you’re supposed to turn, but there’s no road there. Or the bridge is out. Or you have no idea what she’s talking about. Or you are wishing you had a GPS system (aka an agent). Is my panic starting to leak out from the screen?
Okay, I’m going to take a deep breath. And you tell me about your experience with revisions whether they are from editors/agents, critique partners or contest judges. Did they make your manuscript better or make you feel like ship without a port?
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The editing process is where my characters really come to life and I’m always excited to watch that take place.
So, because of that, I enjoy revisions. I’ve had a couple revision suggestions from editors/agents. I always dive in after them and get started—but keep my original. You never know when something just doesn’t work.
I’ve put myself in the mindset of, “if you don’t try it, how do you know it won’t be better?”
Good point, but I guess I am afraid of convoluting my GMC and losing sight of my characters. To me, it’s like trying to change who you are…or maybe trying to fit inside a size 6 when you are really a size 12.
I mean, I’m going to do the revisions. I don’t really have a choice with a category. But it’s a whole new ballgame for me.
Amy, I had ATB completely done, completely edited and was very happy with it. The word count was at the time not too high.
It had a partial request and I was very happy. Then I received an email from the editor and she liked it but said the word count was NOW too high for them with the economy they were cutting back on words.
So…IF I could cut it down to meet their word count, she wanted the full.
I had to cut very close to 20K words. Was it hard? Oh yeah, but I didn’t lose one scene. Things were tightened and now I love it even more. The editor has it and I’m keeping my fingers crossed to here something from her soon.
Oh, I so hope that works out for you, Vicki. Now I just feel like a big chicken. Or maybe just lazy.
I am going to get after it…as soon as I know what she wants me to do. I will look at the glass half full. Maybe my revision will turn out like yours and I will feel that it is much better.
Revisions. Oh my goodness. I have to go back to my nonfiction days, and the wonderful time when my editor wanted major changes on one chapter (it was a book on marriage; the chapter was on infidelity and to this day I’m certain that the subject was one on which the editor was particularly sensitive). After a somewhat heated discussion, I said in exasperation, “Well, you hold all the cards.” And my dear editor snapped back, “Damn right.”
Which of course is true, so we do them. LIKING doing them is something entirely different –
Ha Ha! So right, Beppie. They do hold all the cards. You made me laugh and that’s been hard to do today. Everything seems to be going wrong.
bockbockbockbockbockbockbock……
I have never had an editor or agent ask me to do revisions, but I know the time is coming soon. I have had to revise things in my story for my critique partners. When I changed it, it sounded much much better, but I know I am going to have to revise some more for my editor and agent. The way I see it- they know what would make my story better so I will have to change what they want me to change to get my book published.
Ah! Revisions! This is where I can’t seem to find “the end.” LOL Just when I think I have the pages polished and ready to send, I make the mistake of reading over them one last time. I just can’t do that. There is always something I think needs to be changed and I find myself reworking everything. It’s so frustrating!