Activity

I am about to get my first professional edit back. It’s a developmental edit. I met with my editor and she said that I have a great imagination but way too many characters. I’d love to talk about it more once I get her notes back.

So, she (my editor) mentioned how, in writing, you have the madman (ideas), the architect (planning), the carpenter (building), and the judge (editing). It’s important that they don’t overlap too much in the process, because they can stifle each other. Apparently, my madman is very active (which is good, but it makes more work later)! With my first manuscript, I can see that I tried to find a way to incorporate all of my ideas, add new ones, keep almost all of the characters, add new ones, etc. In my rewrite, I definitely felt like I was handling too many characters, but I didn’t know (and probably still don’t) who should stay and who should go. And with fantasy, there are certainly many, many examples of authors who are not short on characters. The main thing for me, then, is figuring out how the reader wants to experience them. That’s just one of my many flaws, haha!

I’m realizing that the problem authors face, with editing, is self-reflection and honesty. We get to do the fun part, but also, the hard part. Being honest with yourself, frankly, hurts!