Edits...revisions...revisions of edits, edits of revisions...sometimes it seems like a story is never, ever done. There's always tweaking, even down to the final few weeks before a release, sometimes there are still changes to be made.
Now and then I get to the point where I can't bear to look at a story again. I've read it through so many times that I can't see any errors, I can't conceptualize a change, because in my mind, the story is written in stone. It's been on the page for so long, how can it be any different? Those are the edits that make me crazy - not because I don't still want to improve the manuscript, but because my creativity is all tapped out. It gets to be like watching a movie you've seen a gazillion times and now trying to picture a classic scene with a new element in it...it can be practically impossible.
Then there's this one story - the one I've just completed edits on for Samhain...this is the one that never gets old. I've read this story just as many times as I've read all the others, yet I don't cringe when I have to haul it up to the desk top again. In fact I look forward to revisiting every scene. Don't get me wrong, having to make major changes would bum me out, but I still haven't reached the point where I want to sent all the characters on a one-way trip to Siberia. With this one, adding a new scene was like finding an Easter egg on the movie DVD - one of those things that now that you see it you say, gee, that was good. Why wasn't that in there before?
It's nice to have edits that don't leave me pulling my hair out...not that they're ever easy, but sometimes they're actually fun.
3 comments:
At some point, all my books give that feeling where I never want to see them again. At least for a little while. Doesn't mean I don't think they're good, just that I'm tired of looking at them. lol
If this is the one I just read (again) I can understand why it's not making you crazy. It's a GREAT story.
Yep, Jen. That's the one. It's definitely my favorite of all of them. Not that I don't love the other ones too, but like Kristen, I've gotten to that point on many of them where I just can't face revisiting any of the scenes again.
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