Revisions in writing

A writer friend of mine is moving out of state and decided to give away some of her books on writing before she moves. She has hundreds of them. I was giddy with excitement as she handed me several boxes filled with books. The first one I read was Gates of Excellence: On Reading and Writing Books for Children by the awesome author Katherine Paterson of Bridge to Terabithia and many other books. Although Gates was published in 1981, everything she wrote still applies. Not only was the book inspirational, but she had so many quotes in there. One of my favorites on the topic of revisions: “I love revisions. Where else in life can spilled milk be transformed into ice cream?”

 

And speaking of revisions, here is an excellent interview on the Cynsations blog with author Caroline Carlson, The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates: Magic Marks the Spot. She details her pre-and-pro contract revision process. 

 

Here’s an interesting bit of information. Author Alice Munro, who just won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature, got her share of rejection letters. Talk about perseverance! Gives the rest of us hope.

 

Take a peek. This is simply unbelievable! A gown made out of Golden Books. 

Contract: A written agreement stating the rights to be purchased by an editor, art director or producer and the amount of payment the writer, illustrator or photographer will receive for that sale. – Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market