Me and my unpublished writer's genius ego...
Hey Kids,
in my slow progress towards 'Living the Dream' and being a Published Author(tm), one of my friends introduced me to a Lit Agent friend of hers and suggested I should show him some sample chapters.
This was late last year and I did.
Unfortunately real life got in the way and he has only just been about to get back to me.
Double Unfortunately he seems to have decided that my story needs 'a lot of work before it is ready' and seems to have spent several hours 'helpfully' editting it for me.
Ummm...
Ummm...
Ummm...
PLEASE DON'T
Really not that happy with what he has done. This story is 1st Person Narration in what I loosely describe as 'Running Commentary'. It is also running commentary from a character that is mildly precocious, very self centred and a completely un-reliable narrator (and also not remotely as cool and clever as she thinks she is).
So the rambling run on sentences? THEY ARE DELIBERATE
The 'non conventional' naming systems? THAT IS DELIBERATE
In his misguilded attempt to 'correct my errors' he actually managed to destroy half the jokes and completely change the personality of my main character.
So yeah, just a tad annoyed. I asked this guy if he was willing to represent me as an agent, NOT to attempt to edit my novel. If he didn't understand what I was trying to write and didn't think he would be able to sell it on to a publisher as it stood, then all he had to do was say so. I was rejected by an editor mid last year who sent me one of the most uplifting rejections I had read. He said "I liked your story, but didn't find myself loving it, and if I don't love a story I can't promote it fully."
This is my story. I wrote it, deliberately, in that style as that was the effect I want. Trust me, delibrately writing masses of pretentious endless sentences that decline the use of fullstops is actually harder then it sounds.
But it was and is MY story. It is not my story idea that I need someone to polish, it is my completed story and I want to live or die based on my vision for the story, the tempo and the characters.
So yeah, just a tad ranty and frustrated.
in my slow progress towards 'Living the Dream' and being a Published Author(tm), one of my friends introduced me to a Lit Agent friend of hers and suggested I should show him some sample chapters.
This was late last year and I did.
Unfortunately real life got in the way and he has only just been about to get back to me.
Double Unfortunately he seems to have decided that my story needs 'a lot of work before it is ready' and seems to have spent several hours 'helpfully' editting it for me.
Ummm...
Ummm...
Ummm...
PLEASE DON'T
Really not that happy with what he has done. This story is 1st Person Narration in what I loosely describe as 'Running Commentary'. It is also running commentary from a character that is mildly precocious, very self centred and a completely un-reliable narrator (and also not remotely as cool and clever as she thinks she is).
So the rambling run on sentences? THEY ARE DELIBERATE
The 'non conventional' naming systems? THAT IS DELIBERATE
In his misguilded attempt to 'correct my errors' he actually managed to destroy half the jokes and completely change the personality of my main character.
So yeah, just a tad annoyed. I asked this guy if he was willing to represent me as an agent, NOT to attempt to edit my novel. If he didn't understand what I was trying to write and didn't think he would be able to sell it on to a publisher as it stood, then all he had to do was say so. I was rejected by an editor mid last year who sent me one of the most uplifting rejections I had read. He said "I liked your story, but didn't find myself loving it, and if I don't love a story I can't promote it fully."
This is my story. I wrote it, deliberately, in that style as that was the effect I want. Trust me, delibrately writing masses of pretentious endless sentences that decline the use of fullstops is actually harder then it sounds.
But it was and is MY story. It is not my story idea that I need someone to polish, it is my completed story and I want to live or die based on my vision for the story, the tempo and the characters.
So yeah, just a tad ranty and frustrated.