How do you draw the line between improving your story and losing it in the collaborative process with an agent/editor?
I saw this issue touched on in another thread and wanted to explore it further. I've seen my own ms change quite a bit during revisions with my editor. In fact, the whole ending of the story is completely different. But I feel confidant that the story I'm left with is still my story, is still in line with my original vision.
Have you ever refused to make changes to your story because you felt it would no longer be yours? Or do you think a professional should do whatever it takes to make her story marketable?
I think many writers don't go far enough in their revisions because they're so afraid of altering their original drafts. But I also think there are rare instances in which you have to draw the line and say you won't make a change that you believe isn't right for your story--it's just that usually when this happens, you still DO need to make a change, it just needs to be a change you feel good about.
For example, I was upset at first when my editor suggested that I change the ending of my ms. Obviously, the ending was very important to me and I liked it. But after talking to several people, I realized that while the ending worked for me, it just didn't convey to other readers the ideas that I wanted it to convey. My editor and I threw around some possibilities for a new ending, but none of these ideas was really in line with what I wanted. Eventually, I came up with a new ending--one that I believe will convey to readers what I originally wanted to convey, but in a different manner. In fact, I think this new ending is even clearer, more logical, and does more justice to my ideas than my original ending did.
I saw this issue touched on in another thread and wanted to explore it further. I've seen my own ms change quite a bit during revisions with my editor. In fact, the whole ending of the story is completely different. But I feel confidant that the story I'm left with is still my story, is still in line with my original vision.
Have you ever refused to make changes to your story because you felt it would no longer be yours? Or do you think a professional should do whatever it takes to make her story marketable?
I think many writers don't go far enough in their revisions because they're so afraid of altering their original drafts. But I also think there are rare instances in which you have to draw the line and say you won't make a change that you believe isn't right for your story--it's just that usually when this happens, you still DO need to make a change, it just needs to be a change you feel good about.
For example, I was upset at first when my editor suggested that I change the ending of my ms. Obviously, the ending was very important to me and I liked it. But after talking to several people, I realized that while the ending worked for me, it just didn't convey to other readers the ideas that I wanted it to convey. My editor and I threw around some possibilities for a new ending, but none of these ideas was really in line with what I wanted. Eventually, I came up with a new ending--one that I believe will convey to readers what I originally wanted to convey, but in a different manner. In fact, I think this new ending is even clearer, more logical, and does more justice to my ideas than my original ending did.
