tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post1755266391682667121..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Advice on Taking Advice...Katherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-41263155112712126032012-09-24T09:09:35.772+01:002012-09-24T09:09:35.772+01:00Many thanks for the comments, I guess it's all...Many thanks for the comments, I guess it's all part of the journey!!Mark Chisnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10248299206033458004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-60365186211881176882012-09-23T11:46:42.532+01:002012-09-23T11:46:42.532+01:00I always enjoy your posts Mark and look forward to...I always enjoy your posts Mark and look forward to more books as well. julia joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09773900100240758504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-32054525023836848832012-09-22T18:33:09.006+01:002012-09-22T18:33:09.006+01:00Good post, which addresses certain issues we shoul...Good post, which addresses certain issues we should ALL be thinking about. In the immortal words of William Goldman, 'Nobody knows anything.' I don't know why, as writers, we tend to want to go along with whatever we're told about our work - but we do. But editors don't get it right all the time, and as a writer, you should always bear in mind that an editor is earning his or her living too. I realised this over many years of working with producers, directors and script editors on drama. Once a play is commissioned and in production, you can be reasonably sure that your director has the best interests of the play at heart - (although not always!) - but in the world of television, a script editor can string you along unpaid, quite literally for years, with endless edits. I say unpaid, but he or she is always being paid. It's the writer who isn't. <br />A good editor is a pearl of great price. A bad editor, or simply one who isn't quite in tune with your 'voice', is a disaster. The trick is in being able to know the difference and know when to say 'no'. And that's difficult. <br />My novel The Amber Heart had been through so many edits I had lost count. It had, frankly, been edited to within an inch of its life. The straw that broke that particular camel's back was an email to my agent from a publisher's editor, praising the novel, turning it down, as it happened - because she 'couldn't carry the marketing department' with her - and remarking by the way that it needed a 'good strong edit.' I'm afraid my response to that was a resounding 'no it bloody doesn't'. Which was the point at which I went for the eBook option! Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.com