LJ Idol, Wheel of Chaos, Week 10: “Intrigant”

[roina_arwen]

“You’ve made it bleed,” he said.
I shrugged. “That happens, sometimes.”
“Sure, but that much? Seems a bit excessive.”
“Well, what did you want me to do?” I asked. “It’s part of the job.”
He just crossed his arms and glared at me.
After withstanding his withering glare for several long minutes, I sighed. “Fine. Hand it over.”
He passed it back.

I double checked my work, from start to finish. It took the better part of an hour, but it was always best to take one’s time in situations like this.

“Well?”
I shook my head. “I stand by my work.”
“Seriously?”
“Look, if you don’t like it, feel free to do what you want. It’s no skin off my nose.”
“It’s butchery, plain and simple,” he griped.
I shrugged, nonplussed. “It’s a work of art. Did you even read it?”

He stood, grabbed everything up, and walked to the table in the far corner of the room. Turning his back toward me, he sat and perused everything in silence. I ignored him, and worked on my next project.

Forty-five minutes later, I heard a soft sigh. “You were right,” he admitted, tossing the manuscript on the table. “Your version is better. I’m sorry.”
I smiled, pleased with myself.
“I bow to your editorial prowess,” he added with a grin, kissing me soundly.
Being a good wife, I kissed him back.

The blood rites could wait.

Comments

[muchtooarrogant]

“You’ve made it bleed,” he said.

Hahaha.

You know what your entry reminds me of? One of those old TV shows like All In The Family where the husband does or says something that's clearly wrong, spends most of the rest of the episode trying to deny it, but eventually has to fess up to the truth. (grin)

Dan

[roina_arwen]

lol! I guess it does sound a bit like an 80’s sitcom episode. Thanks!

[halfshellvenus]

You made it bleed! Now, those are some wounded words!

Which is what a firm edit can feel like, even when you do it to yourself. Or to quote a fellow fanfic writer, "Not my deathless prose!" Oh, yes.

[roina_arwen]

TBH, I was inspired by the author I’m currently working with, after he got back my copy edits on his 200 page boy’s adventure book.

I had told him that overall, he had pretty clean copy (true, but there were still bits that needed fixing). He replied that “I took a look at chapter one and you still made it bleed, so that’ll keep me humble for a minute :)”

[drippedonpaper]

A good editor is so hard to find. Sounds like true love :)

[roina_arwen]

It’s a fictionalized us, but you’re quite right! Thanks for reading!

[legalpad819]

Awww! I would never have my husband edit anything (unless it was lines of code).

[roina_arwen]

Hubby likes to joke that I’ve been editing his writing for two years, and editing him for the past thirty, lol! Thanks for reading!

[inkstainedfingertips]

As difficult as it is to tell a truth somebody might not like, it's sometimes harder to hear it. Especially with something as personal as your art. But sometimes, they need to hear the truth. Good that the blood rites can wait. :-)

[roina_arwen]

Very true - art is so personal! Thanks for reading.

[bleodswean]

Oooooh! I LOVE THIS!!! Fantastic job with the prompt and the twist and the RED RED RED!!! So happy to see you back in the game, ro!

[roina_arwen]

I’m very glad to be back! Thank you!

[unicornfartz]

I enjoyed your take on the prompt. I personally would have a hard time letting my spouse edit any of my work. You must have a very strong relationship. lol.

[roina_arwen]

We do! He’s a very creative writer (he’s had 18 short stories published so far) and he trusts my editing skills. We make a good team. Thanks for reading!

[alycewilson]

Clever approach! I like this way of talking about editing.

[roina_arwen]

Thank you! I’m doing quite a lot of it right now, so it was on my mind, lol!