The Writing Life
But I know now there’s one thing you’ve all overlooked: intelligence and education that hasn’t been tempered by human affection isn’t worth a damn…Intelligence is one of the greatest human gifts. But all too often a search for knowledge drives out the search for love.
– Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon
Criticism is a horse pill: hard to swallow but good for you.
***
I recently was asked what I do if writers don’t listen to me. I was somewhat taken aback because I have no expectation that writers will listen to everything I say nor do I want them to. Writers are their own people, and they have a creative vision for their work that I may not fully understand despite my best attempts to read and critique closely. My job is to ask questions that encourage them to think and to be able to stand their ground when they are questioned about a choice they’ve made.
Asking an editor to take on your work is not like turning in a paper to a college professor. In college, you might have been able to write something at the last minute and turn it in for a passing grade. It isn’t like that with a professional editor. A professional editor – be that a copy editor or a developmental editor – is going to put your work beneath a microscope. He or she won’t let you get away with inconsistencies or mistakes because the goal isn’t a passing grade. The goal is a manuscript that you’ll be able to publish – not for free or for your mom and her five friends but for money, preferably a lot of it.
[Read more…] about 5 Things to Do before Approaching an Editor
Thieves and pirates often live by some sort of code. Robin Hood, whose identity as a thief is somewhat questionable, had a code: steal from the rich and give to the poor. Pirates also had a sort of code; at least, the pirates in Pirates of the Caribbean had a code even if nobody followed it precisely (I know that puts the code itself in question. Let’s not get into the details of said pirates being fictitious characters.).
If you don’t know it’s impossible, it’s easier to do. Neil Gaiman, “Make Good Art”
If you intend to write and publish a book, you have given yourself an immense challenge. You might think it’s impossible to do. You must not think that. If you hope to make your intention a reality, you must view it as something that is possible.