Editing Schmediting

I have a new theory.  Editing is overrated.  I mean, we’re all about being “real” these days, right?  People get all bent out of shape with the nice perfect blogs with the gorgeous magazine quality pictures and nary a stray hair or dirty sock in sight, right?  People want to hear about how you yelled at your husband for leaving the toilet seat up and how your kid pierced his nose when you weren’t looking.  They want to get down in the grittiness of things so that everything can be “real.”

I’m calling for “real” books!  WHOO!  Let’s go for the real deal in writing, people!  Who cares about misplaced commas, non-parallel phrases, plot holes, and rambling nonsense?  Why should we clean up that sentence that makes absolutely no sense?  It’s real!  Let’s give people what they want–raw, unpolished, unsanitized for the masses.  Oh, yeah!  Of course, I’ll have to fire my editor, but hey, it’s for a good cause.  Real good cause.  (and look, I won’t have to have her harping on me not putting at least an “a” before real good up there.  WOOT!

Yeah.  I guess that’s not going to happen anytime soon.  I think people only want real when it’s convenient.  So, I’ll have to keep plugging away.

In further editing news: Last week I finished Everard.  Within 12 hours of that finish, I realized that I’d left out a major climax.  Seriously.  There were two for the book.  Sure, the reader got their sap fest (as much as I go there) but the bad guy?  Just a nice little chapter after sap fest telling us enough that we realize he got what he deserved.  Oh, yeah.  That’s satisfying.  Guess what I had to do the next night?  Yep.  Satisfying to write I might add.

I also renamed the kingdom half a dozen times.  I tried everything, but the original name just fits.  I did make a change to a minor locale though–one that gives more significance to the story.

And, I’m working on editing Thirty Days Hath… so far I’ve cut about 12% of what I need to.  I’m only halfway through the book and I haven’t even tried to be ruthless yet.  I’m also finding errors, plot holes, and all kinds of goodies that I’m not even trying to find yet.  Gotta love editing.

So, what do you think?  Is the world enamored enough with being “real” that it’s ready for a “real” book?  Hmmm I am almost considering a nice little spoof story for that one.