Is there anything worse?
February 19th, 2007Rejections leave most writers bummed becuase they’ve hoped that their work is going to pass through the sea of red penning relatively unscathed.
So rejections sting.
There is something worse though….
Anything goes
January 14th, 2007For my first column, I simply wrote ‘anything goes’ on my PDA - something, which, of late, has proven to be an indispensable tool.
And its true, when it comes to writing, anything really does go.
Its also true of editing - as long as you keep the strongest elements of the story - the structure, anything can, and usually does go. And then you find that you’re bulldozing new doors in the building you’ve made…
Editing isn’t just about chopping, hacking, and red pens - its about making sure that you’ve preserved and exposed the best of the story. Sometimes that only takes a light hand, others…its hack and slash all the way baby.
So over the following months, I hope to explain some of the most common things editors face, and why we face them - and what writers can do if anything to help.
Flashing quill isn’t just about editing though - its about the masterful art of elevating a story to permenance - so I’d also like to talk about language, eloquence and the evocation of the rarest of things in a reader - a true and honest connection.