The Not Happy Thread

Yes. This will be published. I'm not opposed to having my work heavily edited, and in this case it's really not that much. There is just one thing that I'm not sure how I feel about. I've rarely pushed back at all when it comes to working with editors. I know these people are in high positions at places I feel lucky to publish. Maybe I just need to give the edits time to sink in. Honestly, I know the idea is to make the story better and it probably will.

I didn't give anyone money. They gave me money.

 

Wear a hoodie, hide your face from any nearby cameras and don't forget to wipe your prints off.

 

Then you are at a crossroads.

So it is up to you if you think it is more important to have someone cut things
that you find important to the story line, and can accept that you have given up
some control just to get published. Remember they are not looking at creativity,
they are looking at a product and will reshape it to fit the business model.

 

And give the barista a phony name when you order ...

 

Sure is a bit of a crossroads. Or maybe I'm being a little too sensitive. I love all the changes/proposed changes the editor made except for one. This is fiction for a really great literary journal that I have read for years so I do think they are after creativity and want to promote that. But I can see where you are coming from for other writing gigs. I want this story published with this journal. I think I have to remind myself that I am very lucky and worked very hard to be in this position. If the editor sends edits to the writer for approval, is there some wiggle room?

 

You could always ask if there is wiggle room.
That is great that you will be in something that you hold in high regard.

 

I'm imagining his wispy beard, his spectacles, probably quite nasal in a t-shirt.
...
Do as he says.

 

Thanks. It's a real breakthrough. I think maybe I should ask about this one part. Maybe I will feel different about making this change after I say my concern and see what the editor says. I just don't want to come off looking like an amateur or someone who is hard to work with.

 

What's on the t-shirt?

 

I ask about edits all the time. You can be polite about it, but still get your point across. "I see what you're saying about the change strengthening X, but I worry it might mean that Y... Any thoughts?" Then again, I write novels, not short stories, so possibly the standards are different.

 

I imagine it's probably a similar process. I've done some nonfiction magazine stories that went through an editing (plus fact-checking) process and then the galleys. OMG, I just realized how crazy this process must be when you are dealing with a whole novel. Do you mind if I PM you something about this that's a little more specific than I want to post?

 

Sure, no problem.

 

I remember the days when I would have been that server.

It's weird, watching myself change from problem employee to potential problem supervisor.

 

I have thought of that, actually, but realized that with my drive and ambition, if I'd stayed in, I'd have timed out at however long you can linger as maybe a corporal. Couple years ago one of the guys who started out a few months behind me retired as a master gunnery sergeant (=sergeant major), and one of the guys who started out a few months ahead of me has been selected for full-bird colonel, but I'm neither of them.

 

When you were supposed to unpack the rest of your boxes last weekend, but instead got insanely ill so laid in bed for days on end instead.

So you start unloading the boxes this afternoon only it's all covered in dust and you're asthmatic + you're technically still hacking up a lung from a stupid-flu-that-just-won't-go-away.

And now you're coughing too hard to finish unpacking nor to pack it all back up, and there's dust particles just filling the apartment and every inch of space is covered in items or boxes so there's no where to rest and nowhere to breathe.

 

We got some real snow tonight. Between going to get pizza, bringing it home, and eating we got roughly 3". Naturally my snowblower won't start.
For the next week the forecasted temperatures range between -10 and 20 degrees (-23 to -6C), oh goody.

 

Some very big thing just crashed outside, like a tree falling. I can't see anything except the big fir next to my house has a branch closer to the roof than it should be. But that branch isn't broken and I don't see what might be lying on top of it.

Have to wait until morning to see what fell. It was definitely big. At least the roof and my car don't appear to be damaged.

 

You're not alone. I work in a deli in Idaho. I couldn't have said it better than you just did. It becomes a decision whether to take a chance on some new hires or at least salvage what you can from the wreckage around you.

 

Huh, I may be able to relocate to the US after all. Need an untrained waiter with no experience beyond Taco Bell thirty years ago?

 

Ever had emotional states where you just feel like you’re on the edge of crying? You’ve no clue why, you just are? That’s what I’m in right now.

 

Somewhat of a false alarm. The branch that fell blew the rest of the way down and it wasn't that big after all, medium sized not hard to cut up with my hand saw. Things look scarier in the dark with a flashlight.

 

Sick for New Years Eve.

Doesn't just mean that I'll be all alone - I also wasted money on the trip and all

That's me most part of December Are you doing better?