Day 3: December 22nd –Gift Wrapping
My husband and I wrapped Christmas presents this morning. We decided to go all out and put on ribbons and bows this year. They look so beautiful sitting under the tree! What’s inside each package isn’t elaborate or expensive. But they’re all chosen with the person receiving them in mind.
Kind of like our stories. We wrap them up with care, typed with no mistakes and with great cover letters, and send them off. But editors look beyond the wrapping to what’s inside. Is the story original, or more like the tie or cuff links that dads got too many of back in the 50’s? Is it well written, with words chosen especially to fit the age of the child who will be read to? Is the word count appropriate, or could we have told the same story with less?
Good writing is in the re-writing. Get out a manuscript that you’ve written recently, or an older one, and give it another look. Does the “wrapping” look better than what’s inside?