tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post7165673423642266898..comments2024-03-15T09:26:02.796-05:00Comments on PROJECT MAYHEM: FROM THE DESK OF THE EDITOR: From Guest, Harrison Demchick (eden unger bowditch)Project Mayhemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05154342399869089664noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-65662434126215985602014-03-19T10:27:50.151-05:002014-03-19T10:27:50.151-05:00I appreciate it, Braden! I'm sorry you missed ...I appreciate it, Braden! I'm sorry you missed the contest, but if you have a manuscript in need of a developmental editor, you can still get 10 percent off if you mention your participation in this discussion.<br /><br />http://ambitiousenterprises.com/contact/Harrison Demchickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18341713037648122172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-88362912577800739002014-03-19T09:31:25.120-05:002014-03-19T09:31:25.120-05:00Great interview! Thank you eden and Harrison.Great interview! Thank you eden and Harrison.Braden Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08543019025938404436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-58531715011607267992014-03-17T07:36:24.035-05:002014-03-17T07:36:24.035-05:00Thanks for participating, everyone! Greg Pattridge...Thanks for participating, everyone! Greg Pattridge, you're the randomly selected winner of a free critique of the first few pages and synopsis of a manuscript. Congratulations!<br /><br />Everyone else, I'd still love to talk with you! If you have a finished manuscript, or expect to soon, just go to http://ambitiousenterprises.com/contact/ to sign up for a free half-hour consultation. Mention Project Mayhem and get 10 percent off on any developmental service.<br /><br />I'm looking forward to talking with all of you.Harrison Demchickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18341713037648122172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-49915549062884308182014-03-11T16:55:29.347-05:002014-03-11T16:55:29.347-05:00Thank you, Harrison. I think you're spot on. I...Thank you, Harrison. I think you're spot on. I know that nagging feeling and I think you hit the nail right on the head. I agree with you on our instincts, and yet sometimes our emotions and perceptions are so overpowering its hard to differentiate them between our instincts. But there is something deep within when you just know. Absolutely helpful answer. I will head over to your post on the subject and read it, but I thank you so much for the above. Very, very helpful.Jared Larsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02015044660613908060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-23837839401153271042014-03-11T15:36:48.152-05:002014-03-11T15:36:48.152-05:00Jared,
Happy to help! It's actually funny tha...Jared,<br /><br />Happy to help! It's actually funny that you bring this up. A month or two ago, I was working on a guest blog about that nagging little feeling--you know, the one you get in the back of your mind when you *want* to be done with your manuscript, but you know, in fact, that you are not. The blog was inspired by the screenplay I mentioned above, which I really wanted to be done with after about two years working on the first draft. I tried to ignore that feeling, and for a few days I succeeded. But . . . the feeling was there for a reason. And it's almost always right.<br /><br />So I kept working, and I wrote the blog, and Ally, my colleague at Ambitious Enterprises, said, what about the other feeling? The one where you keep revising something even though it's already finished?<br /><br />Well, that just complicates everything, doesn't it?<br /><br />But I think it's a different feeling. Generally, your instincts are better than you think they are, and maybe a little bit smarter than you--or at least quicker on the uptake. If you read through your manuscript and aren't affected or moved, even if it's been a while--if you find scenes that, even if good, aren't hitting you like they're great--then there's probably still work to be done.<br /><br />You're done, I think, when it hits you like it's supposed to hit you. Of course, you still need those critiques to see what you can't, and then you revise and improve, but ultimately you come to a point where you're no longer making improvements--only lateral changes. If you reach a point where you're making changes just because you think you have to, rather than due to any particular thing in the manuscript you're trying to improve, I think that's when you're done.<br /><br />Not the most concrete answer, I know, but it's tough to be definitive about a thing like this.<br /><br />Here's my guest blog on the subject if you're curious: http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/2014/02/gut-feelings-writers-secret-weapon.html<br /><br />I hope this helps! The tricky thing is that there will always be rejections, even if it's amazing. Rejections aren't to be ignored entirely, especially if they seem to refer to the same particular problem, but they can't be taken as gospel either. Go down that road and nothing is ever good, much less finished.Harrison Demchickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18341713037648122172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-8946629985305539872014-03-11T14:36:24.182-05:002014-03-11T14:36:24.182-05:00Fantastic interview and very insightful. Thank you...Fantastic interview and very insightful. Thank you for taking the time to do this, Harrison. You're awesome!<br /><br />I think one of the questions I struggle with is, when do you know the manuscript is as good as you can get it? After critiques, after a ton of drafts, after self-doubt and after self-assurance, you send it out there, and as soon as you get some consecutive rejections, you start saying to yourself, "Crap! Where did I go wrong? I thought I followed all the right suggestions, interlaced with my passion from within?" <br /><br />And regardless, you come to a logical conclusion you can always make it better. You can always improve it. So you intellectually convince yourself you submitted too soon, and maybe you should mess with it again.<br /><br />Ha! So, yeah... amidst the rejection and the continuance of querying, how do you maintain the notion that it is actually, maybe, possibly, good enough!? And at the same time realistically conclude that its possibly not?<br /><br />I think too much. All this thought over a humorous MG! Help Harrison!Jared Larsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02015044660613908060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-20863132508544677202014-03-11T10:04:33.488-05:002014-03-11T10:04:33.488-05:00Greg, taking time away can make a *huge* differenc...Greg, taking time away can make a *huge* difference, especially when you're stuck. That's one I think it took a while for me to learn--I don't know that I was able to do it until I realized switching between projects is okay (and actually a lot more efficient at getting things finished).<br /><br />As for the hardest part of my job . . . hmm. Maybe determining how to approach the editorial letter. I think one of the most important parts of what I do is figuring out exactly how to explain the issues I see to the author. Different manuscripts have different issues, obviously, but different authors have different approaches as well, and I want to be sure to be as clear as possible and as helpful to the particular person I'm working with. I've only done my job if I've left them with a clear sense of what they need to do moving forward.<br /><br />So it's either that, or the writer's cramp in my right wrist.Harrison Demchickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18341713037648122172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-70694474573814737242014-03-11T07:42:41.455-05:002014-03-11T07:42:41.455-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Harrison Demchickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18341713037648122172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-25545432443478209992014-03-10T20:51:03.630-05:002014-03-10T20:51:03.630-05:00One of the hardest things I have had to learn is t...One of the hardest things I have had to learn is to put the manuscript away for a month or two. It looks like an old friend when you return, but one you are ready to face in a fresh new way. <br /><br />I like to hear there are no shortcuts. I've tried and it doesn't work. So, on the editor side, what's the hardest part of your job?Greg Pattridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05761872776035591138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-63237589652586409442014-03-10T16:36:06.274-05:002014-03-10T16:36:06.274-05:00I appreciate that, Caroline!I appreciate that, Caroline!Harrison Demchickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18341713037648122172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-33138702453441420232014-03-10T16:35:44.938-05:002014-03-10T16:35:44.938-05:00Dianne, that's the tricky thing about self-pub...Dianne, that's the tricky thing about self-publishing. It's great that authors have the ability to control everything in a way they've never been able to before, but that means that anyone can publish anything tomorrow, without taking the time to craft or perfect. Anyone who's ever seen the submissions pile for any publishing house knows that the majority of those books genuinely should not be published--that is, not in their current state.<br /><br />A lot of the roadblocks that used to exist are gone now, but editing and revision were never roadblocks. They're essential parts of any artist's creative process.<br /><br />http://ambitiousenterprises.com/contact/Harrison Demchickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18341713037648122172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-78477297379219622642014-03-10T16:35:42.633-05:002014-03-10T16:35:42.633-05:00What a great post and a generous offer. Off to spr...What a great post and a generous offer. Off to spread the word!Caroline Starr Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04597510685273079757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-27311680575824105842014-03-10T16:23:16.075-05:002014-03-10T16:23:16.075-05:00I love #2!
I have read SO MANY self-published boo...I love #2!<br /><br />I have read SO MANY self-published books that could have been great if they had been through a few more drafts.<br /><br />And, ahem, I've read the free samples for (and passed on) 10 for every one of the ones I mentioned above.Dianne K. Salernihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16459839567235304842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-66083765575766100882014-03-10T14:23:16.186-05:002014-03-10T14:23:16.186-05:00I always love to hear about small presses battling...I always love to hear about small presses battling for great books. That's the world I came up in. I hated the marketing part--it's why I'm freelance now--but I respect anyone with the courage to fight that fight.Harrison Demchickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18341713037648122172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-53181037448412868042014-03-10T12:27:30.606-05:002014-03-10T12:27:30.606-05:00Thanks, Paul! I certainly hope it helps. One of th...Thanks, Paul! I certainly hope it helps. One of the most important thing you have going into your next draft, which you can't possibly have with your first, is hindsight. You know what you want to do far better now, and you use that going forward.Harrison Demchickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18341713037648122172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-47448710600247538032014-03-10T12:16:02.599-05:002014-03-10T12:16:02.599-05:00Great interview!! Love this quote from Harrison: &... Great interview!! Love this quote from Harrison: "You can’t write that amazing third draft without those somewhat less than brilliant first and second drafts. There are no shortcuts, even though you sometimes want there to be."Paul Grecihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11340974339238587138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173408054965817352.post-14999383801182725812014-03-10T12:04:41.092-05:002014-03-10T12:04:41.092-05:00Great interview. My mantra for this year is "...Great interview. My mantra for this year is "writing is fun." (I think I'm getting there...<br /><br />I second Harrison's comments about a small press taking on projects with potential. My friend, Laura Stanfill, has started a small press in Portland called Forest Avenue Press. She is championing "quiet" novels, and getting a lot of kudos--at least locally. Here's a <a href="http://www.forestavenuepress.com" rel="nofollow">LINK to Forest Avenue Press.</a>Michael G-Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07947421844294471304noreply@blogger.com