Be careful what you wish for...

[desperance]

I poked both my agents yesterday, given that they'd had the novel four weeks and I was going spare. To be fair to them, they both got back to me instanter. Neither has quite finished yet, but both gave me opinions-so-far.

And they didn't say anything I didn't expect, far from it; and they didn't say anything catastrophic; so it all ought to be fine, really.

And yet, and yet...

They want tweaks, a shift in balance here and there, perhaps more they'll tell me about later, but mostly they want cuts. Of course they want cuts. They're both former editors, and the editor was never invented who looked at a manuscript and didn't want to see it shorter. Is fine. And yet...

Oh, God. I am just so sick of rewrites. Since the start of December, I have:

spent two weeks cutting & revising another manuscript;
spent four weeks cutting & revising this manuscript;
spent four weeks retelling Conan Doyle's "The Lost World" in a highly abridged form, which boils down to cutting & revising in an extreme manner.

I am exceedingly weary of printed pages with scribbles on, and the whole mental process of making what was longer shorter. It would be soooo nice to write something fresh, y'know? Blank page, start from scratch, hurl the words around...

But no. Not this month now, not next month (abridgement of "Dracula"), probably not the month after that as no doubt this book will be back again from its regular editor by then, with a regular editor's revision letter. Aurgghhh!

So I took the first quarter into the Lit & Phil this morning, and read & scribbled on, um, twenty pages before my soul rebelled. And this afternoon I watched "Objective: Burma" (hey, it's set in the Far East! It's research!); and now I am drinking wine and I may very well sit in my comfy chair and read a book about China, because that is also work, but not this. Dear God, not this...

Does the Foreign Legion still take foreigners?

[ETA: On the other hand, maybe I'll sit in my comfy chair and finish reading Iain M's "Matter". That's sort of work too, isn't it? Keeping up with the genre...?]

Comments

[dedbutdrmng.livejournal.com]

I'm about two thirds through my review copy of 'Matter'. It's absolutely cracking isn't it? Journeys and perspectives traveling in opposite directions. It's just lovely.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

Oh, horrid. Would you care for a loan of a number of Chinese films on dvd? We have unreasonable numbers across many genres, from the late 70s to more or less contemporary (a bit thin after 2000, save for specific stars/genres). They are a) research and b) a good distraction.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Hee. That really is a terrible temptation. But no, thank you: I shall be good. I shall do my rewrites, just like other writers do. And grumble, probably, right here on LJ, just like other writers do; but I need to spend less time watching the TV, alas, rather than more. The world is too full of distractions, and too empty of books by me...

[pennski.livejournal.com]

Does re-watching Mulan count? I suspect not, but it's what we did tonight.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

'Course it does. That's research on my behalf, and I thank you for it.

[autopope.livejournal.com]

Suggestion?

Unless there's a pressing deadline, tell your agents "I have spent ten of the twelve weeks since the start of December revising stuff, and I've gone stale. Can the revisions wait a month while I work on something else and get my mojo back?"

Because they'll be better for your doing them after a break when you've got your mojo back, you know, and unless there's a typesetter sitting and tapping their fingers waiting for you -- or an urgent cheque waiting to be released the very instant you hand the MS in -- four weeks isn't going to make that much difference.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Is true, but frankly the urgency of the cheque is actually paramount. I'm a traditionalist in these matters; starving in a garret is my thing.

[moral-vacuum.livejournal.com]

I poked both my agents yesterday

And they should be flattered.

attitude

[(Anonymous)]

Yayyy! That's really good news - you had been toe-itchingly anxious and this is good good good. The buggers are taking you seriously - which does unfortunately involve editing but that's the game. Grasp it and clasp and (if absolutely necessary) poke it (twice, hard, then give it one from me) but clamber up onto the slag-pile of your exasperation and plant that flag, Boy. Once again the good folks have flown in the face of all probability and you've got away with it - they think you're an author.(We all know it, of course, but the publishing conglomerates always have to brought laboriously back to boiling point, every single time). Embrace your exhaustion and do that thing. You're fab.

[davidbarnett.livejournal.com]

God, I hate rewriting. Just delivered an ms to my agent (and one of yours) for a first read. However, he is currently clogged with client mss, which makes it worse because I will have to wait my turn.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Is me. I have clogged him. 'Pologies.

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure that Matter is the right thing to read to put you in the mood for excisions: unless it is an Awful Warning, and my guess is that it's too good for that.

[handworn.livejournal.com]

Curiously enough, the Foreign Legion does still take foreigners. We'll be expecting some interesting blog posts out of you about what it's like.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

My Desert Hell - no truffle-oil for the omelette!

Oh, wait. This is the French Foreign Legion. Of course there's truffle-oil for the omelette...

[handworn.livejournal.com]

There's a beau geste for you.