Edits Are Done

Well I did it.  I made it through my new edit of “Quest for the Red Sapphire.”  It’s amazing how different a book can look to two different editors.  One might want you to say, “He took off his cloak and went in the room.”  The next will strike that as being wrong and call it “Idiotic” saying instead it should be, “He went in the room and took off his cloak.”  As a storyteller you look at the first few instances of this and say, “Ok; so he does it a little differently.”  Then it keeps happening and you begin to say, “What is going on here?”  I have maintained all along that I would need to develop a thick skin with this editor and it is safe to say I feel like I am wearing dragon scales.  Some things he is right about.  Some things I had no idea were the case.  And many other things are simply written the way I want them in the world I have created.  After all, it is my story and my world!  If I want the main character to speak without contractions, guess what?  No contractions.  If I want to use the geographic term “Drumlin” then I will.  I don’t think I’m pushing the boundaries too far here.  It is my story and I am the one telling it.  Imagine you were telling someone a story and a person sitting next to you kept correcting you over and over.  Some corrections would be valid and some would just be the way they like to tell the story.  It would be hard to get through the telling.  I decided to treat the editor as a friend giving advice rather than a critic.  It takes the edge off the relationship.  You can handle harsh criticism from a friend much better than from a critic.  The experience has helped me grow as a writer and as a person.  It’s easy to write when everyone says your work is dandy.  When someone is overly critical, however, you learn new things and fight for what you know is right.  It makes you a stronger person.  That, in turn will lead to easier editing sessions.  In spite of how much I grow or learn, my style will simply not be a match with everyone.  You know that saying about not being able to please all the people all the time?  Well this is one of those instances.  Ten books from now I could still submit a manuscript to him and have it bleeding red ink. (He would say “Does paper actually bleed?  Perhaps you should use different wording?  You’re confusing the reader by talking about a human characteristic in an inanimate object.  Also the red is on a computer screen.  There is no ‘ink’ to speak of.  Why confuse the reader more than you already are doing in this sentence?”  That’s not an exaggeration.  My wife read the comments and wanted to send a strongly worded rebuke.  (That’s the kind way of putting it.)  I had my dragon scales on and only felt a light sting.  Perhaps this will make the book an easier read for the consumer.  I hope so.  All I can say with certainty is that I have finished my edits…at least the first round.