The pressure! How do I follow up my blog posts about NYC and still keep all of you guys interested? I have to say, when I blogged about drinking, all-night bars, and general debauchery, my page hits went up. Not that I care about page hits. Definitely not. But I am curious about who is out there thinking I’m a total lush who deserts her kids for the wild life. I don’t do it often, I swear. No more than once a week. Seriously. (Better?)
So what can I tell you now that will keep you on the edge of your seat? I thought of live Tweeting the PTO meeting tonight—It was captivating! It was enchanting! I complained about the lack of booze! (well, one of those statements is true)—but under the fierce eye of the principal, I caved and put my phone away.
I just e-mailed my revised manuscript to my agent. That’s really the excitement of my day. It’s been weighing on me for so long that I finally said, “Damn it! Just send it off!” I think there’s a process one goes through when getting those revisions. It goes something like:
- Denial: What? You want changes? On my perfect, incredibly manuscript?
- Anger: Ugh! I hate revising! Revising sucks! No way!
- Bargaining: Okay, I’ll make a couple of these changes. A few of the changes make sense. But no way am I making those other changes!
- Depression: Oy, she is so right. Her changes make so much sense. I’m a terrible writer. I’ve made all her changes and now I see there are so many more changes that should be made. Ohmygod, how many times do I use the word “very”? Everyone knows that “very” should be banned from the English vocabulary! What is that other word? How many times does it appear? Okay, let’s read through this one more time…. What a hack I am!
- Acceptance: You know, with these changes, this thing isn’t half bad. It’s actually pretty okay. Hey, I like my novel again! It rocks!
(Does that list of stages look familiar? No, I didn’t think so either.)
Seriously, my agent’s suggestions were dead on, even if at first I felt resistant. But as I sat with them, I realized they made total sense. But the thing is, I made changes she suggested. And I thought of more. And more. Revising can go on forever if you don’t at some point say, “Enough!” Words can always be tweaked and sentences restructured. So I just sent it off and I feel light and airy… and ready to rework my marketing plan. Sigh.
I’m sorry, is this post too wholesome for you? I’ll throw in: martini! cute boys! ignoring the children!
There. Now do you feel back at home?
