CLEOPATRA CONFESSES will be published in June, and now I'll make a confession of my own: I really like to do rewrites. I didn't always feel this way. The first time an editor told me that I needed to do some reworking, that the plot sagged in the middle and fell flat at the end, I threw a fit. Politely, of course. And the characters were two-dimensional. What? And maybe I should think about writing it in first person instead of third. By then I was lying on the floor, hyperventilating.
I did eventually pull myself together and tried--reluctantly at first--to follow my editor's suggestions. And to my amazement, the manuscript really did seem better. Now it was perfect, or so I assumed.
Wrong! Could I shorten this, add some description here and here and here, and for goodness sake let the reader know how the main character FEELS?
Oh, lord. So, after a few nights of tossing and turning and several days of obsessing, I run it through again. Much better! But could I do just a teeny bit more?
Now, years later and many books later, I've learned to enjoy the process, even to depend on it. That manuscript I sent in weeks ago wasn't really finished. It was, I discovered, more like a first draft, even though I'd been hovering over it for months. A first draft with still a long way to go, and I might as well make the most of the journey.
I did eventually pull myself together and tried--reluctantly at first--to follow my editor's suggestions. And to my amazement, the manuscript really did seem better. Now it was perfect, or so I assumed.
Wrong! Could I shorten this, add some description here and here and here, and for goodness sake let the reader know how the main character FEELS?
Oh, lord. So, after a few nights of tossing and turning and several days of obsessing, I run it through again. Much better! But could I do just a teeny bit more?
Now, years later and many books later, I've learned to enjoy the process, even to depend on it. That manuscript I sent in weeks ago wasn't really finished. It was, I discovered, more like a first draft, even though I'd been hovering over it for months. A first draft with still a long way to go, and I might as well make the most of the journey.