Keeping An Open Mind

Back in October, a post on the Tinkey's Goldfish Facebook page said, "Approaching a story with an open mind and an imagination gives you a better insight and depth of the book or novel that you are reading! This is the same approach that one should use when writing a report or a short story of your own!"

I feel like stapling those words to my forehead.

An open mind is exactly what I'm trying to keep after yesterday's conversation with Bryony's editor. The book still has a couple of trouble spots for her. It was a good talk; we are more on the same page than I originally thought, and it helps that she really likes the story. I think we've even worked out a viable solution, for one area, at least.

The challenge is keeping the story intact while implementing the suggestions. I'm guessing she has more faith in my abilities than I do today, but I've called out for feedback and, despite some grumblings in the loyal ranks for tampering with my story, I am receiving some valuable suggestions.

For those staunch defenders of the original draft--few of them writers--I remind them that one reason editors are necessary is that they approach the work with fresh eyes, which none of us have right now.

Moreoever, if the story wasn't worth whipping into the best possible shape, WriteLife would not exert so much energy into getting it there. We're all on the same page (lol!) and coming into the home stretch, so....

I'm approaching Bryony with an open mind and imagination, the two qualities that led me to write it in the first place.