Writing and Editing

I love Don’s reference to Brendan Behan: ”Critics are like eunuchs in a harem, they know how it’s done, they’ve seen it done every day, but they can’t do it themselves.”    I imagine that we could extend that to editors. But I don’t think that it is that they can’t do it, they just don’t have the confidence to do it. I read somewhere that denying creativity leads to anger and frustration; fear of not being “good enough” also leads to anger and frustration – an interesting thought.

As a content editor, I’m often awe-struck by the authors I edit. They’ve done incredible work putting words together, creating characters and scenes that are believable! They “unfold” the story in such a way that leaves me wanting to read the next chapter. O’Ryan Jackson’s Serpent Bearer series is an example. O’Ryan submitted the first three stories, then decided to make changes to stories four, five and six before she submitted them. I had to wait to read the ending! It was a long six weeks. And once I got them, I pushed everything aside and just read them for the pure fun of reading. Colby Elliot’s For a FewDiapers More series is another example – but his is also an example of taking an everyday happening, twisting it and seeing were it leads; following his character to see how he stands up to the challenges of the world suddenly taking a left turn into weird.

I’ve had the opportunity to venture out with two very different stories of my own, to let my “imaginative fancy” out for a spin: Tracker and Trouble with Humans. Now that I’ve been able to let others “peek” into my world, I better appreciate what the writers for Wormhole go through when they submit a manuscript – days/ weeks of self-doubt only to be faced with rewrites based on “She wants me to do what?!”

There still remains that pull, that “story” inside me, that is yammering to be let out that hasn’t been dulled by editing … “It” believes that since I did it for the first two stories, it should have equal time, it’s fair share of the light. I have no idea what I’m really hooked on: the writing or the editing! What an interesting dilemma!

Carolyn