Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.
- Napoleon

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Nip-Tuck

No, not the TV show. I've never seen it, and have no urge. Nope. I'm talking about a editing.

I was talking with my CP via e-mail about the work I've been doing to Spectacle, and she was aghast. She loves the manuscript as is. I don't blame her; I love it, too. She said she was going to start referring to me as Hacker/Slasher.

I'm no hack n slash kind of gal. I can barely snip. The sight of my own manuscript bleeding words makes me nauseous. Instead, I told her, I'm doing a little nip-tuck. Cosmetic surgery only. It's well past any attempt at major surgery, and if it needs it, then I guess it'll fade away into obscurity. (I don't think it does, and neither does anyone else who's read it, so I don't think we have to worry about a surgeon.)

What I want to know is: Are you the kind of writer who goes in for the major surgery editing of your manuscripts or are you a fan of the nip-tuck?

3 comments:

Kristy Baxter said...

Oh, I go nuts. My manuscripts bleed so badly, I'm surprised the cops haven't followed the bright trail to my door and hauled me off in handcuffs.

And it's not just cutting--it's rearranging, and adding...and then subtracting and rearranging what I've rearranged and added. =)

When I started editing my first, my husband was sitting across from me. He looked aghast when he saw the first page, dripping red marks everywhere. "But...but you already revised that part twice!" (When I got halfway through and realized my plotlines needed serious surgery).

I just laughed. What can I say...I'm a Slasher.

B.E. Sanderson said...

LOL. When my husband sees me editing the same thing for the umpteenth time, he just shakes his head at me.

Alex Adams said...

LOL! Can't...stop...giggling...

I both nip and tuck and hack and slash where needed. Right at this moment I'm nip/tucking, with a thesaurus open on my lap.