Not sure how much time I will get to write today. There’s work to do on the farm and people to see. So, I broke off from the revision to get into this blog. There is a sense of urgency about writing when I know that I work on borrowed time. It might be a good thing–it makes me process faster and forces me to make choices about the work as opposed to thinking about it to death and then doing whatever as a result. I’m not writing peak literature where I can meander aimlessly. I’m writing a book based on an RPG where the beats are king and the character story is meant to develop neatly alongside those beats. It isn’t what I want it to be, but as the Lady Talis tells me, it is what it is and I can’t make it what it isn’t. The framework simply isn’t built to support that.
When I wrote the first draft it was a straight shot mess that made no sense, because I wrote it as it came to me, and didn’t follow a definitive structure or stop to think about the choices I made. In essence, I submitted a bad first draft to my editor and she shredded it. Deservedly so. Of course, in the art of shred, once you know you have a thing you may find yourself digging in a little too hard in spots, reflecting what is going on with you and your proclivities vs. trying to let the story be what it is trying to be. I learned a ton from this latest book because she wrecked me and I discovered how much of that came from core problems and how much of that was about flavor and about personality.
I can do better drafts. I have to do better drafts. I also have to remember that the first draft is not the one you turn into anyone but your Alpha Reader (My Lady Talis). You can only be naked and vulnerable around loved ones. They are the ones without agenda. So, when submitting work, make sure it is bullet proof as much as you can before getting to the editor. This is going to make you look better as a professional. It is going to create a sense of a polished persona that is expected in the industry.
Nobody wants to work that hard. If an editor feels your work requires too much editing then they are going to take it out on your work and on your ego personally. That is what happened to me. Don’t let it happen to you.