Black and white and red all over!

I have been making up stories since long before I could write, but by second grade I was writing stories down on paper for other people to read.  I remember how good I thought those first ones were and have to laugh now.  They were always about children lost in a huge mansion.  I remember learning to spell mansion and how surprised I was at the way it looked.

Part of the fun of writing is having people read it, but that is also the scariest part of writing.  Every story has the potential to become a nightmare of humiliation if it is rejected, or, worse, torn apart!

I’ve learned to accept editing.  That is different than just ripping something to shreds.  Editing makes a story better.  In fact, it radically diminishes the chance that someone else will come along and dissect it for fun.

I have a friend who reliably edits anything I give him.  He’s good.  Sometimes my work comes back looking like that sunburned zebra we used to tell jokes about, black and white and red all over, but when he finishes, my story is always ten times better.

It’s when I don’t have him read it through first that I feel most vulnerable.  The thought of him becoming an impartial editor of my stories outside our friendship is pretty scary, because then he must be brutally honest.

I wouldn't want it any other way, but it sure is something to think about.