Comments on: on being edited (and what I learned)

By: courtney

courtney — Thu, 21 May 2009 05:20:01 +0000

@Sandmore you will pwn your own revisions! And omg, I am honoured. *misty-eyed*

@Denise Thank you so much!! And congrats on finishing your first round!! I’m sure you will & good luck with round two!!!!

By: Denise Jaden

Denise Jaden — Wed, 20 May 2009 05:10:20 +0000

Thanks so much for sharing, Courntey! You are a real inspiration. I’ve just finished my first round of revisions with my very first editor and have no idea where I will go from here, but I can only hope I’ll have the same determination as you if I need it!

By: Sandmore

Sandmore — Tue, 19 May 2009 21:55:32 +0000

Dear me, Courtney. This couldn’t have come at a better time for me, actually. And you make me laugh with “eated.” I actually wrote “Whatevers” in my novel today and thought of you.

By: courtney

courtney — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:42:19 +0000

AHAH YOU ARE MY ONLY LORI, BB. THERE IS NO OTHER. <3333

ILYBNIACW.

By: Lori

Lori — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:40:56 +0000

bb, I am such an asshole! I forgot to comment on this post (which I read in my post-California “OMG THERE ARE ALMOST 200 ITEMS IN MY GOOGLE READER!” haze). I forgot to comment on this post, in which you mentioned my name. TWICE! (Unless you are cheating on me with another girl named Lori in which case…egg on my face!)

Anyhoo – I am so proud of you for getting through this book bb. It’s crazy to read this entry and see what a looooong process it was, but I know your book is better off for it. And this entry is full of such good advice. It’s like you’re a professional writer or something…

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! <3333333333

By: courtney

courtney — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:44:05 +0000

Thank you on both counts!! :D

By: DeadlyAccurate

DeadlyAccurate — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:04:07 +0000

Courtney, great post! And congratulations on getting finished.

By: courtney

courtney — Tue, 19 May 2009 01:08:50 +0000

@Richard thanks! I’m usually pretty good at backing things up. Unfortunately not that time. Now I’m much, much better at it. Writing’s hard enough without dead laptops. :)

These are good questions to muse over. I think there are a variety of factors involved. Also, many books sell on proposal, or there are unwritten novels that are part of multi-book deals, series or otherwise–they don’t exist in manuscript form and will likely have a very rough incarnation etc.

By: Richard Lewis

Richard Lewis — Mon, 18 May 2009 23:18:26 +0000

Great post! I’ve been there, minus the laptop dying. I’m such a hypochondriac, my phobia extends to my writing, and I’m constantly backing up twice and thrice and sending off a day’s work to various email accounts as well.

You did get me thinking: we’re all told that a ms. has to be as perfect as possible when it’s submitted to an agent or editor, but by your account (and others, and my own experience as well), it seems that most *bought* mss. are not, in fact, close to perfect. They’re torn apart. For example, if you need to seriously work on your character arc (a major part of a good story), then why would the agent and/or editor take on the ms in the first place? This is a musing question, not a pointed one. I guess the answer must be, in first pass thought: the editor thinks, there’s something here, I can help the author make this really special.

By: courtney

courtney — Mon, 18 May 2009 22:34:06 +0000

@Venus Thank YOU. :)

@Jaded Jennifer That makes a whole lot of sense to me. :)

@Megan Ooh, literally lost? It’s hard enough when they die but I’d freak if I lost mine! & We Canadian’s a straightforward and to the point when it comes to store names.

@Jamie T-shirts would be AWESOME. We could all wear them in public and be easily identifiable writers. Good luck with everything, the writing, the querying, the editing!

@Joelle Good editors are TOTAL gold. I’m glad you found the post encouraging and good luck with editing!! Chips and salsa and guacamole sound like they are definitely in your future!

@summer Thank you! :)

@Shari eee! That is exciting!! I bet they’ll be great. I hope you’ll be blogging about it too. (Congrats again on the representation!)

@sonya Thank you so much! Writing is soo hard–good luck on your impending revision letter and with the sequel writing. I’m glad you don’t feel hopelessly at wit’s end–it’s truly a process and I’ve no doubt tou’ll get both books where you want them to be. :)

@Amber thank you! Writing is definitely and always and endlessly a process. Keep at it & happy writing!!! :D