Let's see. I seem to have lost something.
Well, as it relates to time, I guess since it does not require finding and is impossible to make, I guess some of us probably sleep and watch television less than others.
Yesterday, someone asked me if I'd seen the VMAs.
I didn't know what the fuck they were talking about.
And then I thought, why would you watch hours of television about giving awards to shit that is on television? They should give televised awards to people who watch televised awards shows about television.
I'd watch that shit.
Here's something I got a few days ago:
That is a novel I wrote called Winger. It is coming out at the beginning of 2013 from Simon and Schuster.
Let me tell you how much I love and appreciate editors who use paper. Seriously.
On the top of my novel is the editorial letter which contains a few big-picture questions. As editorial letters go, it is very short (about 4 pages) and totally easy to deal with. A lot of it's just copy edit stuff, which, in writerspeak means change a word here or cut this sentence into two sentences. Shit like that.
See all those Post-It notes on the pages? I don't know what those are. They could have saved those in case they needed to cover their windows during Hurricane Irene.
Actually, they just mark pages where there's something I need to look at, like commas and shit like that.
This is what work looks like.
It looks like a chunk of time that I found on my doorstep.
14 comments:
Ewwww, paper.
I'm actually offended when someone sends me something paper. I'm all about the pixels now.
I have too much stuff in my head (most of it is toxic garbage) to make room for shit like how to track and approve fucking changes.
Microsoft needs to develop spellcheckers that don't underline REAL WORDS like photoluminescent with red squiggly lines. Red squiggly lines on a screen make me want to break something.
On paper, not so much.
You just completely ruined this image I had of you writing fully formed novels that your editors embossed onto gold plates and nailed to their walls.
They do that every time, Matthew.
Good. That's what I thought.
Writing in its true art form - paper.
I get paper cuts too easily and if my editor sent me that pile I'd end up in the emergency room.
I'm kind of mixed with the paper v. track changes on my editorial packages. I had one agent who, like your S&S package, sent letters and marked-up print outs of my book. My eyes don't want to bleed after four hours of reading and editing from paper, which I like.
But on the other hand, my new agent (and former S&S editor) uses track changes. The eye strain sucks, but I find the notes more detailed, which I think is more to do with them being typed as opposed to editing styles.
Either way, though, it means my ass is at my desk for the next month, stressing over the definition of perfection.
Wonder how they edited hieroglyphics? I imagine an Egyptian editor sitting around with a piece of papyrus, cutting himself with a rock to put bloody red squiggles under misspelled glyphs wondering what bodily fluid would work best to create the world's first post-it note to mark the pages that needed attention.
I maintain a humble silence in the face of another heighth to which I aspire: getting to the point of having edit letters and stuff.
My first rewrites were done with typewriter, scissors, glue and a xerox machine.
What I can't believe looking back is that I was resentful and arrogant about editorial letters even then. I'd be ghosting Sweet Valley Twins and storming around the house saying, "Goddammit, they don't get Jessica at all! Don't they know she's the bad twin?"
I watched the VMAs...but only for the Hunger Games trailer :) The acts were suckish though.
Did you really ghost write for that series, Michael? I can't decide if that's more hilarious, or more awesome. Probably equal parts of both.
Michael, your comment filled me with glee.
Andrew, I am using your blog's trenchant insights to give my husband a glimpse of the published writer's life.
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