Saturday, September 16, 2017

How Should I Respond To My Editor's Observations?

My editor returned my collection of poems with some suggestions and observations. They are mostly good and positive, which I ate up. But she made a few comments which caused me to reevaluate my entire project.

It is important to use the advice of others who you trust. They will see things you miss and point out things you might not have considered because you are so involved with the project. So, if the advice is honest and sincere you have to give it some respect.

One of her observation was that there was a sadness or tone of depression in many of the poems and that influenced the overall voice of the work.

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I have noticed before that my poems had a lot of phrases that invoked images or feelings of sadness. I was not sure if it was some internal reflection on my part since as their author I had a unique connection with the poems. Now I know the reader finds the same voice of sadness.

This is not good news to me. I wanted the book to be one of encouragement and hope not a rallying flag to some self-pity celebration. If I revisit and edit each poem I will have a big job on my hands and may have to push back publishing to early spring.

I am committed to the vision God gave me to write a collection of poems that can be given out to encourage people and point them to God. For this to happen it has to be a meaningful product that one person will be blessed by and then want to pass it along, not something that will get them depressed and toss the book away.

I believe this project is important and will bless many people. Since anything that is worth having or doing is also worth the price and sacrifice I will take her advice and revise the collection one poem at a time. A large number will require attention. I think some only need a line edited out, or another line added to turn it around. There may be a few poems that I will have to remove completely. I may add one or two that celebrates joy, and hope.

I am grateful for her help in making this book a light and hope for many.

If you are in need of encouragement or know someone who does order a copy today,
 you will glad to have this book.

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