If you’ve seen the terrific film, the Whale, you’ll know hat I am about to say. I will explain if you have not, as yet. I heartily recommend you do, but be sure to have a box of tissues within reach.
The protagonist I think you’d say is an obese professor, wheel chair bound due to his enormity and swollen body. He teaches a writing class, online, to a bevy of aspiring student writers. They write and submit essays and he reads and edits same, until at one moment when he’s had enough. In his final online class, in a fit, he demands the students write something honest instead of going through the dubious process of writing and rewriting the essay multiple times which will have eroded the original essay submission into something not of their own. Finally some do just that and he is pleased.
I CLEARLY understand that process. I’ve written 3 novels (and a lot more as my website displays). The novel process bred multiple, some furious, arguments via multiple editors. Editing IS important. TO A POINT! Not to the point your words are unrecognizable. As such to your story. But the novels are my own! They are HONEST. That in itself is a success to me.
If any of you are writers/authors etc I’d suggest you listen to good qualified (editors) advice. Then be sure it’s your writing, your vision/voice not there’s.
In 1969 (yes, there was that year at one time) I was hired by a major Photography publication to write an article about an aspiring photographer and his ” Shoestring photography” studio in the East Village of NYC. I submitted my article with title as such. It was rejected with commentary in the margins.
I’m a New England Prep School brat. The school essentially was a great blend of the essences of Animal House and Dead Poets Society. But rest assured we did know how to write. My kind but direct mother(a wordsmith, a grammarian, with an excellent and extensive vocabulary and also made certain her children did as well) was also a very- well -respected -editor for several major publishing houses in NYC. I enlisted her help just to be sure I wasn’t missing something on the rewrite (yes, perspective is -my favorite word in the English language) . We massaged the article and I submitted it. They accepted it and sent me a very welcome and needed check for 150 bucks. So at that point I became officially a professional writer. One problem. Yup, I could hardly recognize the article.
My work is my own and my own voice. I do not write to the tried and true commercial models that are out there. I have a reason for this. As a hint and benefit to anyone who has slugged through missive I’ll tell you I do not over -punctuate and in doing so I try to engage the reader. That is make the reading of the work a collaboration between author, story and reader. When It works with the right reader it’s magic.
Thank you for listening/reading etc
Caveat Emptor my friends!
Az
