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Inner Editor Run Amok
Jul. 29th, 2010 08:35 amWoke up this morning at about 6am (early for me - I don't like mornings) from a dream in which I had:
1 - submitted something to an editor I respected and had worked with before
2 - received a tl;dr type email reply from said editor, that thoroughly critiqued both the submission and everything else I'd ever written,
and 3 - started composing a contrite reply.
I don't usually dream about reading words in enough detail to remember them when I wake up (let alone start drafting email replies), but certain phrases stuck in my head; probably because they're the sort of thing I'm paranoid about.
"Your characterization is weak,"
"Your characters are very flat and two-dimensional,"
"You spend too much time writing about your characters' thought processes,"
"Your plotting is weak..."
etc etc.
Lies.
Or, okay. At least not 100% true (or I never would have sold anything). But obviously they're things I worry about enough to give my subconcious paranoia something to hold on to.
I know this is my inner editor run amok and fear mongering. What I don't entirely know is why. And it's hard to argue with your subconcious. Dwelling on it may just exacerbate the problem.
Meantime, the day job beckons. There are times I wish we kept pre-ground coffee on hand for the mornings, but I much prefer the taste of fresh-roasted and fresh-ground stuff. Commute first, then coffee.
1 - submitted something to an editor I respected and had worked with before
2 - received a tl;dr type email reply from said editor, that thoroughly critiqued both the submission and everything else I'd ever written,
and 3 - started composing a contrite reply.
I don't usually dream about reading words in enough detail to remember them when I wake up (let alone start drafting email replies), but certain phrases stuck in my head; probably because they're the sort of thing I'm paranoid about.
"Your characterization is weak,"
"Your characters are very flat and two-dimensional,"
"You spend too much time writing about your characters' thought processes,"
"Your plotting is weak..."
etc etc.
Lies.
Or, okay. At least not 100% true (or I never would have sold anything). But obviously they're things I worry about enough to give my subconcious paranoia something to hold on to.
I know this is my inner editor run amok and fear mongering. What I don't entirely know is why. And it's hard to argue with your subconcious. Dwelling on it may just exacerbate the problem.
Meantime, the day job beckons. There are times I wish we kept pre-ground coffee on hand for the mornings, but I much prefer the taste of fresh-roasted and fresh-ground stuff. Commute first, then coffee.
