Today is the final leg of our tour with Rolf Hitzer, author of Hoodoo Sea.
The man:
The book:
I asked Rolf for a guest post, and here is what he had to say:
Bickering with my Editor
When I had penned Hoodoo Sea, I had put my heart and soul into the creation of the story. Upon completion, it was time to find out if the novel was worthy for print. I prepared a query letter; made multiple copies and mailed them to as many literary agents I could locate throughout North America.
A stream of rejection letters followed, but one agent said she would give the manuscript a look. The moment of truth had arrived. Several months later I received a response. Her letter started with the book having potential, but I was unknown and I would need to shorten the length of the novel. She had also recommended additional changes, and then I was welcome to return the rewrite for another look and she would consider signing me on with their agency.
Oh boy! I needed help. I tracked down an editor, a professional. The first word, sentence and paragraph, he boldly told me to delete. What, this was my dear creation? The battle was on. You see, I had to defend my honor, not to mention my ego.
Our healthy debate continued through the entire editing process with my rewrite. This guy was beginning to really annoy me. In fact, for three weeks he was relentless on how I should change one of my main characters in the book. How dare he? To be honest, I don’t know why I gave into him, but I did. My editor, Norm Asher, I will always be grateful for his insight and help, he was right all along.
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For those of you who are writers out there, you may want to take Rolf's advice to heart. When we are writing something, whether a novel or a school essay (or even something much more simple like a blog post), we become so involved and invested that it's difficult for us to see the mistakes or where the storytelling flow should be revised. It's imperative that a professional eye look at your work and that you LISTEN to their advice.
Thanks so much, Rolf! It's been a great three days highlighting you and your debut work! I wish you much writing success in the future!
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