The Art of Editing, OR Shoot Me Now and Get It Over With

Yes, only during the editing process can you truly appreciate just how pathetic and ill-equipped you are to produce anything of value to society. At no other time does the author have instilled in them a true loathing of oneself, a loathing rivalled only by the rejection of certain literary agents who shall at present remain nameless. Ah, I remember the good old days, when the creativity flowed through my nimble fingertips onto unsuspecting pages, transforming them into brilliant, living things with emotions and passions, and carefully constructed dialogue. Upon reviewing this masterpiece, however, I have discovered very little that does not reduce me to tears, or worse yet, nausea. Suddenly, this wonder that I have constructed, on further investigation, appears to be nothing more than a clumsy disaster, one that seems barely salvageable. But salvage it I must. Though every scene makes me cringe in the thought that it came from my own inadequate imagination, a disgrace to the very electronic device it was typed on, I shall press forward. I shall right this wrong. I shall avenge my former self who, with compromised judgment to say the least, brought forth on this planet such a compost of bile and dross! It shall be made clean!

I Learn Real Good Now!

Against my own judgment (the lazier part of it, I'm sure), I have decided to continue my education passed...well...high school and some college coursework. This of course sucks in so very many ways, first of which being that the time I have previously devoted to writing and agent-finding must now be divided between homework, online coursework, studying for online coursework, and getting angry because my online coursework is taking away so much time from my writing and agent-finding. Then there's the financial strain, even being that it is community college they still think very highly of their super high school status. But what really gets me about the whole thing is this idea that unless I spend countless hours and nauseating amounts of money on classroom study that will, on average, prepare me for about 0.01% of the actual skills required to perform the job I intend to pursue, I still can't get said job until I finish this meaningless coursework. Ridiculous! I am confident that if thrown into the very position I will spend innumerable units of energy and years of meaningless lectures on, I would be able to master all that is required of me within a few months. A few months, as opposed to years. And I would be getting paid, instead of paying. But no, the scholarly institutions of our time have struck some kind of sick deal with the government, the state, the underground minions of torturous boredom, wherein all peoples wanting to better themselves (that is, rise above minimum wage) must undergo the punishment that is the continuing educational system. I have revolted against it as long as I could. I am not proud of myself for choosing to jump through these tainted, expensive hoops, but there it is. I will continue to write, continue to seek publication. I will also excel in my studies, all the while hoping against very dismal odds that this backup plan of degrees and regular employment will somehow become the backup plan I didn't have to use after all.

Back!

I spent all of April working feverishly to finish a screenplay, spent the beginning of May rejoicing and recuperating, spent the end of May in Texas, and now that it is June the time has come to leap back into action! The editing process is underway, and most important to this blog, the query letters are ticking once again. Onward and upward. Can't let accomplishment stifle the unbearable longing for yet more accomplishment. Let the rejections start flowing in anew, I will not be detoured!