Another Writing Setback
My second book is about two people surviving a horrific event and falling in love. It’s a standard romance plot, but I added the twist of the girl being underage. While I applied extreme effort to provide a universal appeal, I knew my creation might upset a few people.
In this time of South Park, Tinder, big sports cheating, political debacles, legal recreational drugs, common-core education, and sex scandals, is it bad to have an offensive book? The bar has been set so low that my trivial efforts should not make a single wave. Knowing this, I chose to write this story because I knew its unconventional nature would pull readers in. Does this mean that I intentionally wanted to offend a few people? I guess so. Is it my nature to offend people? Not at all. In fact, I go out of my way not to be offensive.
It was a long road to bring this book to life. My first editor was awful; it took six months to sort through the mess. When I convinced myself I had something worthwhile, I submitted it to another editor.
To put it mildly, the feedback from this new editor was brutal, and it took a while to face the main issues. The male is arrogant, and the girl reads like a confused idiot turned genius. To top it off, I had fundamental plot problems. The editor’s overall opinion is that nobody will like it. Ouch.
Reading these comments hurt, and I went into my unhappy place for a while. Eventually, I pulled myself up and deeply looked at the edits and comments. At this point, I need to take a sidetrack to explain what a good edit should accomplish. The most crucial task is eliminating all grammar, spelling, logic, and format issues. Next, style and flow should be addressed. A good editor will also include constructive comments.
A lousy edit will not correct the problems and introduce new ones. Unfortunately, this is what I found. The editor deleted meaningful sentences, changed facts, and introduced logical flaws. What was strange was the editor moved many sentences for no reason. This resulted in a horrible flow, and an incomprehensible plot.
Eventually, I concluded that the editor did not like the story and “wrote angry.” An ethical editor should have stopped the process and voiced their concerns. Instead, I got a huge mess (that I had to pay for) that forced me to make a drastic decision. Rewrite the book, drop the project, or continue with what I had. I bucked up because I am not a quitter and still like the story.
I decided to fix what could be fixed and ignore the other criticism. So, I began with the character, plot, and logic problems this new editor found. The result will be a more likable male and a realistic female. However, there were downsides to the changes. Eliminating the character flaws resulted in bland characters—an unfortunate tradeoff.
Will the result have universal appeal? Regrettably, the editor pointed out that my story would offend some people, and I would have to deal with the blowback. Up to this point, I did not fully face this harsh possibility. However, the popular Harry Potter book offended many readers and parents. Their big complaint is that magic is not real, but the book taught children otherwise. Are such complaints valid? Of course not, but people still got offended, and others took their complaints seriously.
Does an author feel the sting of invalid complaints? Negativity always hurts, which reminds me of a great quote from The Princess Bride. “Life is pain. Anyone who tells you differently is selling something.”
The world is tough, and a timid book will not get any attention. I must remember that fact, believe in myself, continue taking risks, and push through the pain.
You’re the best -Bill
March 17, 2020 Updated 12/19/2024
In this time of South Park, Tinder, big sports cheating, political debacles, legal recreational drugs, common-core education, and sex scandals, is it bad to have an offensive book? The bar has been set so low that my trivial efforts should not make a single wave. Knowing this, I chose to write this story because I knew its unconventional nature would pull readers in. Does this mean that I intentionally wanted to offend a few people? I guess so. Is it my nature to offend people? Not at all. In fact, I go out of my way not to be offensive.
It was a long road to bring this book to life. My first editor was awful; it took six months to sort through the mess. When I convinced myself I had something worthwhile, I submitted it to another editor.
To put it mildly, the feedback from this new editor was brutal, and it took a while to face the main issues. The male is arrogant, and the girl reads like a confused idiot turned genius. To top it off, I had fundamental plot problems. The editor’s overall opinion is that nobody will like it. Ouch.
Reading these comments hurt, and I went into my unhappy place for a while. Eventually, I pulled myself up and deeply looked at the edits and comments. At this point, I need to take a sidetrack to explain what a good edit should accomplish. The most crucial task is eliminating all grammar, spelling, logic, and format issues. Next, style and flow should be addressed. A good editor will also include constructive comments.
A lousy edit will not correct the problems and introduce new ones. Unfortunately, this is what I found. The editor deleted meaningful sentences, changed facts, and introduced logical flaws. What was strange was the editor moved many sentences for no reason. This resulted in a horrible flow, and an incomprehensible plot.
Eventually, I concluded that the editor did not like the story and “wrote angry.” An ethical editor should have stopped the process and voiced their concerns. Instead, I got a huge mess (that I had to pay for) that forced me to make a drastic decision. Rewrite the book, drop the project, or continue with what I had. I bucked up because I am not a quitter and still like the story.
I decided to fix what could be fixed and ignore the other criticism. So, I began with the character, plot, and logic problems this new editor found. The result will be a more likable male and a realistic female. However, there were downsides to the changes. Eliminating the character flaws resulted in bland characters—an unfortunate tradeoff.
Will the result have universal appeal? Regrettably, the editor pointed out that my story would offend some people, and I would have to deal with the blowback. Up to this point, I did not fully face this harsh possibility. However, the popular Harry Potter book offended many readers and parents. Their big complaint is that magic is not real, but the book taught children otherwise. Are such complaints valid? Of course not, but people still got offended, and others took their complaints seriously.
Does an author feel the sting of invalid complaints? Negativity always hurts, which reminds me of a great quote from The Princess Bride. “Life is pain. Anyone who tells you differently is selling something.”
The world is tough, and a timid book will not get any attention. I must remember that fact, believe in myself, continue taking risks, and push through the pain.
You’re the best -Bill
March 17, 2020 Updated 12/19/2024
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