Not much to report yet on the publishing of Wicked Good. It is in the editing stage. It will be interesting to see what changes Trestle Press think are necessary. I've been writing since I was about 10 years old (it all began with a book on the weather that I covered in wallpaper which was placed in my elementary school library) and one of the most popular writing rule has always been:
Kill Your Darlings.
William Faulkner said that. There has been a lot written about what he meant. What I get out of it is: if you want to be published, you have to be willing to cut the bad and the good. Okay, I can groove with that. The other day, I wrote a chapter for Wicked Wise, the second book in the Wicked series, where Archer leaves her office and goes for a drive after she becomes upset by a fellow attorney. (Been there!). Archer meets Christopher and...I don't want to give too much away. Amy read the chapter and thought Wicked Wise should go in a different direction. I complained and said but the chapter was really good. And I think it was. But ultimately, Amy was right. (Please don't tell her I said that.) Anyway, I am saving the chapter on my computer to see if I can use all or part of it in another place in Wicked Wise. So, my darling is on life support but it may breathe on its own again!
As for Trestle Press editing Wicked Good, I'm looking forward to reviewing their proposed changes; and learning. And while Amy and I might have to kill a few of our darlings, we might be able to resurrect them in a future Wicked novel.
-Jo
Kill Your Darlings.
William Faulkner said that. There has been a lot written about what he meant. What I get out of it is: if you want to be published, you have to be willing to cut the bad and the good. Okay, I can groove with that. The other day, I wrote a chapter for Wicked Wise, the second book in the Wicked series, where Archer leaves her office and goes for a drive after she becomes upset by a fellow attorney. (Been there!). Archer meets Christopher and...I don't want to give too much away. Amy read the chapter and thought Wicked Wise should go in a different direction. I complained and said but the chapter was really good. And I think it was. But ultimately, Amy was right. (Please don't tell her I said that.) Anyway, I am saving the chapter on my computer to see if I can use all or part of it in another place in Wicked Wise. So, my darling is on life support but it may breathe on its own again!
As for Trestle Press editing Wicked Good, I'm looking forward to reviewing their proposed changes; and learning. And while Amy and I might have to kill a few of our darlings, we might be able to resurrect them in a future Wicked novel.
-Jo
This is the great thing about computers...Killing Your Darlings means just moving them to a different file. If you love it--keep it, think about it, let it hide in a different file. Who knows, that one chapter may become book three.
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