... is what I'm currently struggling with. Well, we're all ALWAYS struggling with it, but I'm finding it a particularly fierce stushie at the moment. I'm trying to bridge the gap between what's in my head and what's on the page - a sort of mental tug of war - trying to drag the story and the words closer together by brute force and sheer doggedness.
Well, it's my job, when all's said and done, but sometimes it feels a lot harder than it should!
It's that old Platonic Ideal thing - the story exists - it really does - and all I can do is my best to get it (as near as possible) down on paper. I'm never going to find the words to match the Ideal. To match the reality. But I'm bound to try.
Which makes it sound all hopeless and grim. Which is sometimes true. But I'm just about to head out to a whole slew of author visits where I'm going to be telling all sorts of kids that I love my job because it is probably the best job in the world.
And that's true too.
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5 comments:
It's horrible, isn't it? I often find myself feeling that I will never be able to do the story justice. Re-reading copy-edits is the worst. You can't change very much at all, but you want to throw the whole thing in the bin and start again (at least I do).
Still. It's the hope that 'maybe next time' that keeps me plugging at it.
OH NO - this isn't supposed to be here - I'm booked for MONDAY - I just can't get the wretched delayed posting thing to work ....
ARGHHHHH
Can anyone help me get this off Andrew's page and back on track for the 8th?????????
Okay, I've calmed down and the decision is to leave well alone. So please feel free to comment without worrying you're about to disappear!
Elen - It's true. Copy-edits, proof-reading - I wonder if there is something about the pace at which we do these things that makes our words sound so bad?
All so true, Joan... got to accept that we never write the book we want to, the dream, perfect book! :)
I still edit as I read parts of the printed story when I'm doing a workshop... it never seems quite right.
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