…Editing.

There I said it.  I don’t like editing.  I’d rather have someone shove bamboo under my fingernails than sit through and edit something I wrote.  Honestly, when you think about it, I don’t think I’d ever grow to gleefully take the red pen of death to my work.  While I don’t enjoy seeing my stories torn apart, I have had to learn the necessity of editing to make the story the best it can be and that was a really hard lesson.  The first few stories I had accepted for anthologies really only edited for some small grammar points and spelling.  The further down the writing road I get, I see the game change.  As I’ve moved on to more publications that are paying markets with more competition, I’ve seen the editing done to my work become more critical.  Do I dislike it?  No, because I understand it.  It has helped me really step up my game when I write and rewrite.

Editors are there for a reason, but they would like it if you did your share before you blast their slush pile with a story filled with ‘their’ instead of ‘there’ and so forth.  In the beginning, I thought the editor only wanted to turn my steaming pile into a different steaming pile.  Now that I’ve lived and learned, I know they are there for the benefit of me and the work to ensure the reader is given a good clean and more enjoyable read.

If you haven’t yet, go and hug an editor, send them a message of thanks, and thank them again by doing your part of the work before you set them to task.  It is not a job I want, but I thank those who are brave enough, or crazy enough, to do what they do.

That about sums it up, except… go and check out The Siren’s Call eZine #8 (The Men of Horror Issue).  Inside is my little love story, “Do Us Part”.  It is free to download here at their site.  While you’re there, take a look at their back issues and see what is happening with a really cool press to work with.

And on that short pimpage note,

Goodnight…