God vs. The Creator

Today’s blog was supposed to be about how I finally have time to get back to my true love, writing.  Then I made a harmless check of my email and found that the second set of edits for “Quest for the Red Sapphire” are back.  That means that my fun will have to wait as I dive once again into the world of editing.  I have not looked at the editorial comments yet but they must be considerably fewer than the first set.  The editor made a lot of good points which I made note of and changed the first time through.  There were some instances where I dug in my heels and refused to budge.  I am wondering if those are items he found fault with the second time around.  It is a difficult situation because he commands great respect as an editor.  My father was one and he had a framed drawing from the art department at one of his magazines in his office.  It was a large picture of a disheveled writer with loose papers in his hand, bent over as if in pain with giant pencils the size of fence posts stabbed completely through the writer from the front to the back in two places.  Underneath the caption read, “Man, he is one tough editor.”  My father was the one who framed the gag and hung it in his office proudly.  Needless to say, he had little sympathy for me when I came to him with my concerns about some of the edits.  In his book, the editor is God and you do not argue with God.  If writers could get it right in the first place there would be no need for editors.  It kind of reminds me of our disagreements in my childhood.  My argument is that the writer is the Creator and without him there would be nothing to edit.  Therefore, shouldn’t he have some say as to how he wants things done?  There has to be a happy median.  After all, both sides have valid points.  I don’t want to be at odds with my editor.  And I certainly want it edited well.  I just don’t want to lose the story I took so long creating because it is not to this person’s tastes.  To his credit, this editor is making me a better writer as there are mistakes I should hope I will not make again.  To his discredit, the way in which he has phrased some of his criticism is at the very least, not constructive.  So I will review the changes and make as many corrections as I can and not lose the essence of what I have created.  In the end, as much as I will bend…it is still MY book.  I am the Creator.