Suspended animation (waiting for Godot)

[pbray]

Last night I woke abruptly from a dream in which I was reading the revision letter for the manuscript I'd sent in earlier this month. In the letter, my editor gently pointed out that I'd inserted a huge chunk of fanfic in the middle of the book, and I should be prepared to cut that section. She didn't think that we could get licensing rights for that property--particularly since I'd killed off one of their main characters.

I called my editor to discuss and informed her that the character in question NEEDED TO DIE. The ever-patient Anne agreed, and then pointed out, once again, the issue of licensing.

I awoke half-convinced that I had indeed received that revision letter and it took a while for me to realize that it was all part of a dream. When the heavy plow came down the road on its second pass, I realized that this was probably what had originally awoken me.

I can't remember which TV show the dream referenced--it might have been Heroes or CSI. But I'm pretty darn sure that there isn't a chunk of fanfic in the manuscript I sent, and I know I haven't killed off anyone else's characters. Despite how much they need to die.

I suppose it just goes to show what the mind will come up with when it's fretting. There's nothing quite like that awful silence between the time you deliver a manuscript and the time you get your first feedback--especially when it's a project where you're not sure if it worked or not. It's a bit like that moment where you slam into an obstacle and you're waiting for the pain to register to figure out how badly you're hurt. Now just imagine that moment stretching out for weeks....

Optimism. It's for other people.

Comments

[larryhammer]

*falls over laughing*

No no, I'm laughing with you, not at you.

*snicker*

---L, *snortle*.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm laughing at myself, too.

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

I know exactly that feeling (well, OK, not exactly). I send my chapters out to a group of long-suffering reader-friends, two of whom in particular are always superlatively helpful. One of these two always sends the chapter back within 24 hours, while the other often takes up to a week; the reason is that, duh, she's busy, but every single time I don't hear from her for a few days after sending a chapter, I start thinking ohmygod it sucks it's terrible and she's afraid to tell me oh no what am I going to do. But, and here's the part that's supposed to make you feel better, it always turns out that most of said chapter, at least, did not in fact suck, and my friend was just really busy.

Once again you make my day by demonstrating that Real Actual Published Writers have the exact same neuroses that I have ... so thanks for that.

And, having just finished Devlin's Honor, I am fairly certain that you should be more optimistic about The Current Project.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the encouragement.

And in case you haven't heard this secret before--the big surprise when you become a published author is how little it changes things, as you can see from my LJ posts. You'll probably find that you react to critiques the same way you did before--just now the critiques will be coming from an agent or editor rather than a critique circle. That's why I advise writers to develop good habits from the start, because they're going to have to serve you over the long haul.

BTW, in virtually all cases the critiques (and revision letters) were never as bad as I feared. Of course if they were all positive I'd suspect that the editor hadn't actually read the manuscript, and be equally disappointed, so....

Sanity. It's for people who aren't writers.

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

Sanity. It's for people who aren't writers.

Truer words were never spoken!!

What are these good habits of which you speak (apart from not falling to pieces every time a reader says "this paragraph doesn't work")?

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Well everyone has their own definition of good habits. For me, I define it as developing ways to cope with the ups & downs of a writer's life.

For example, if you can't handle negative feedback when you're an aspiring writer, then you're going to be in trouble the first time your agent/editor tells you that your favorite scene isn't working.

There's no one right way to deal with this--the key is figuring out what works for you. Some writers simply shrug it off and immediately begin discussing other ways of achieving the same effect. Others need to go off in a corner for a while for a private sulk before they can think about how to fix the story, or spend quality time whining to their friends about the fundamental unfairness of the universe.

I've gotten my routines down pat. I know that reading Amazon.com reviews will drive me crazy, so I don't. Ditto for fan letters--if I'm in the middle of writing new material I can't read them, so I let a friend screen them for me.

I read the revision letter when it arrives, and then let in sink in for twenty-four hours before responding. When I'm upset I make my friends take me out for alcohol, chocolate (or better yet both), so I can get all the whining out of my system. Then when I'm speaking with my agent or editor I can behave as a professional, because I've already had my tantrums in private.

Strangely enough, good news also involves writer friends, and public celebrations with alcohol and chocolate, so it's an all-purpose routine.

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this.

A year ago I'd have said I was doomed, but I'm now getting quite good at receiving criticism in a spirit of non-despair.

I can see why one would want to refrain from reading amazon.com reviews ... although reading them after a bottle or so of wine might be rather fun ...

Oh, and by the way

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

Can I use that line about sanity for the "quote o' the week" feature on my LJ? Please please please? :D

Re: Oh, and by the way

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Sure, go right ahead!

Re: Oh, and by the way

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :)

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

There's nothing quite like that awful silence between the time you deliver a manuscript and the time you get your first feedback--especially when it's a project where you're not sure if it worked or not.

It's the same when you think it really, really worked...only to learn that no, it didn't. Because the brain shut down the Eternal Tweakage of the Overworked Mind section because the book was already, like, fine. It took me three months to gear up that section of my brain again. mizkit could have written two books and a graphic novel in that time.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't it be nice if there was a way to freeze a copy of your mental state at the end of the book, then reboot back to that saved copy when the time came round for revisions?

I don't know how mizkit, matociquala and other prolific authors manage to jump from one project to another as they go from writing new material to revising previously submitted manuscripts, to final copyedits on even older projects. I'm more single-threaded myself--not sure I could keep all those balls in the air.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I've scratched notes on index cards. I also saved another version of the current ms and activated the Track Changes option so that anything change I make shows up in underlined RED. Because stuff is still dropping into my head at odd moments.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Although I will say that this past summer, I wrote the Incident novella and a short story while still working on Endgame. I mean, I didn't work as hard on Endgame as I should have during this time since my mind was wrapped up with the novella. But after I finished the short stuff, I returned to the novel. It was my first exercise in brain-stretch, and I think it worked. I hope to do more of it.

So, I think it can be a learned behavior.

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

Y'know, I think my knack for it came from working tech support for an internet company just when at-home-net was becoming The Thing. I learned to disengage the part of my brain that was troubleshooting, because 75% of the problems were fixable by rote, so I could do other things while I was talking to people on the phone. I was doing huge amounts of online role play at the time, as well, so a part of my mind was frequently working on something creative. I could pretty much talk about one thing and think/type about another. I could literally carry on two or three spoken conversations at the same time, listening to what people were saying and shuttling back and forth to respond (I did that one day at work and slowly all the conversations died as the people I was talking to realized what I was doing and gaped at me). I really kind of think the ability to work on multiple projects and switch from one to another is an extrapolation of that.

Also, revisions or copy edits cropping up just when I'm utterly sick of a project makes for a nice change, so perhaps that also helps keep my mind fresh in a way. Gotta say, though, after last year, the last 3 months have been comparatively very, very slow for writing, and I'm grateful for it. :)

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

*HOWLS*

*laughs and laughs and *laughs** May I quote this, please? That just made my day. *laughs*!

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Sure, go right ahead!

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Glad we could be of service!

[davidkeck.livejournal.com]

In keeping with the infinite interconnectedness of the modern world, your editor may have been chuckling indulgently at your posting.

(Eye witness report).

~D

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Gulp! Hee!