The most difficult part of writing The Study is not the writing process itself, it is the editing process. I have people who are great editors for my other work, but it is far more difficult with this genre. I can see how dystopias are popular to write: the negative outlook on society seems to be an invisible canvas within which we all see the world most of the time. When trying to show how the world might be made better during transition, instead of worse, is far harder for other people to digest for two reasons.
The first reason finding an editor is hard is that we are all used to sharing our own ideas, as opposed to listening to and developing the ideas of others. Whenever I explain the ideas behind the stories in this book, I invariably here a hedged positive piece of feedback followed immediately with an explanation of either why it wouldn't work or how that person would do it instead. I am far too polite to shout at them that if they think their ideas are so great, why aren't they writing this story, but I do think about it.
It is the explaining why my idea wouldn't work that really prevents me from finding the appropriate editors for my story. I wonder if people who write dystopias run into the same phenomenon. I want to tell a story about the world as it could be through my eyes. I know there are other ways it can be done, and mine may not be the most plausible or positive ways to change society, but they are my ideas. I need an editor who is going to help me translate the ideas onto paper in a way that other people can understand. More than that, I need an editor who will help me phrase my story and ideas in a way that sparks positive, effective conversation among different groups of people. My goal in this endeavor is to infiltrate the negative trend in literature to lose faith in humanity and what we can achieve with some hope. I hope that the conversation will change for the better as a result of this book, if it hasn't happened beforehand.
That being said, if you would like to be an early reader for this story, comment or send me an email. Let's change the conversation.
The first reason finding an editor is hard is that we are all used to sharing our own ideas, as opposed to listening to and developing the ideas of others. Whenever I explain the ideas behind the stories in this book, I invariably here a hedged positive piece of feedback followed immediately with an explanation of either why it wouldn't work or how that person would do it instead. I am far too polite to shout at them that if they think their ideas are so great, why aren't they writing this story, but I do think about it.
It is the explaining why my idea wouldn't work that really prevents me from finding the appropriate editors for my story. I wonder if people who write dystopias run into the same phenomenon. I want to tell a story about the world as it could be through my eyes. I know there are other ways it can be done, and mine may not be the most plausible or positive ways to change society, but they are my ideas. I need an editor who is going to help me translate the ideas onto paper in a way that other people can understand. More than that, I need an editor who will help me phrase my story and ideas in a way that sparks positive, effective conversation among different groups of people. My goal in this endeavor is to infiltrate the negative trend in literature to lose faith in humanity and what we can achieve with some hope. I hope that the conversation will change for the better as a result of this book, if it hasn't happened beforehand.
That being said, if you would like to be an early reader for this story, comment or send me an email. Let's change the conversation.
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