Just another update . . . Jazz House Publications has accepted a story of mine for publication called Traditions. And just in time for the holidays :). As of today it’s supposed to be available in November of this year.
A big thanks to Tiffany Curry and the rest of the Better Words Editing Team! We’re about to start in on edits and go from there.
A word on editing. I have long been of the mind that writing and editing are two different skill sets and while I think it’s possible for a writer to put his or her work through an editing process, and should, said writers cannot completely divorce themselves away from their own stories in order to see them objectively.
I know it’s true for me. I can edit, and I continue to edit my stories after they’re finished, but at the same time, I often miss things because I can’t quite see it from the same perspective as someone who is reading it cold. I just can’t read my own stuff as objectively as someone on the outside.
I don’t see it as a failing, it’s just part of the process of writing. Which is why I’m always happy to have an editor redline my stuff, ask questions, and point out the obvious–“Just what was your reasoning for screwing up your plot on page four?”
I have never gone through an editing process where I didn’t look at the story after all the electronic scribbles were done and didn’t see a more polished, cleaner and crisper story (did I throw enough negatives in there to confuse everybody . . . I wish some editor would have cleaned this up).
It doesn’t mean I don’t ask questions of my own or occasionally push for something I feel strongly about, but editing is a partnership, and you have to trust the editor to a degree because that’s their talent, and they’re looking at your story from the outside catching things the writer missed.
Ultimately, I looked at the editing process as the chance to make the story leaner and clearer; to tell a tale people will read all the way through without stopping every fourth line because they got pulled out of the story because of some awkward wording or typo, and actually enjoy it.
So thanks to Tiffany and her team for taking my story on, and I am ready for the red lines 🙂
Craig