Editing pains

"It gave me one more wrinkle in my arse, however: which is to the good,no doubt," said one of my favourite characters in one of my favourite books (Barret Bonden in the Aubrey-Maturing series, by Patrick o'Brian), meaning that he had learned a new thing the hard way.

Well, I earned a major wrinkle in my arse while editing WaaFL, which is that while books can be quoted (with due credits) with relative impunity (there is at least a wide grey margin to the concept of fair use), song lyrics are not, absolutely not, to be touched. Even very old songs (up to 95 years) that have been sung and resung to within an inch of their life by any number of artists. Apparently the copyright on song lyrics, unlike the laughable joke that "protects" the rest of us, is a real thing.

Ok, I am not here to complain about the state of the world (I'd never finish!), but just to ruminate on the pain of editing a perfectly crafted story (if I say so myself, but then WaaFL is an Editor's Pick at Evernight, so it can't be just me!), which was fairly interwoven with songs, tiny snippets of songs which carried so much of the characters' moods, thought processes, association of ideas...

We are told, as writers, to show, not tell, and it seemed a good idea at the time, to pinpoint these things through songs that were relevant at the time for the characters. You know how some songs "sing louder" to you at certain times of your life... and tell something about you, and where you are in your journey.

Well, removing this quotes however minuscule, was a truly painful bit of surgery, and it often required some serious rethinking of how to signpost the characters' emotional path. I owe a milion thanks to my awesome editor Karyn for holding my hand through my major freak out, and helping me through the upheaval with infinite patience and simpathy, not to mention with good ideas and genius insights.

Sometimes the title of the song alone (which, unlike the lyrics, can be lawfully used) was enough to carry the meaning, but sometimes a paraphrase of the text had to be crafted, more or less successfully, or a whole quote had to go entirely, and its place in the narrative had to be taken by more or less considerable bits of narrative.

Some of these changes came out surprisingly well, which goes to show that sometimes a challenge can bring out good things. Some are less smooth, but all in all, I think, now, that the story will survive. I could have taken the song theme out entirely, but I think it was so deeply rooted in the nature of the characters that it would have been to much of a blow to the story. It's a bit of a compromise, but I hope it still works.

I certainly will not use songs again, though.

I was fairly certain, when I got the dreadful news that the lyrics had to go, that the whole MS was dead and buried.
Big edits require a bit of a grieving process. It takes some weeping and ranting and weeping again before you can accept the fact and be constructive and go on with life. Well. It is done now, and life goes on.