Remember Me??

I’m ba-ack.

I made myself a promise after my requested revisions came in that I would not blog until I got those revisions done. Needless to say, it took a little longer than I anticipated.

This was the first time I’ve been asked to revise something fairly small. I’ve gotten revise and resubmits where they wanted me to change a good half of the story (and they were right to want that), and in a weird way that was easier (though ultimately did not end in publication).

I’m finding that rewriting for me is easier than revising. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Gone With the Wind:

“I was never one to patiently pick up broken fragments and glue them together again and tell myself that the mended whole was as good as new. What is broken is broken – and I’d rather remember it as it was at its best than mend it and see the broken places as long as I lived.”

It’s often easier to scrap what’s been done then try to piece together the broken fragments of the original.

You’ll notice I’m using the word ‘easier’ not ‘better’. This is something I need to work on. Knowing the difference between when to rewrite and when to revise. Not always giving in to the voice that says start over (like the compulsion to start a new notebook before the old one is full). Not always ignoring that voice either. Being able to figure out what’s worth saving and what’s too broken to piece together.