h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi Echo,

Thanks for the good luck message.

Regards changing the manuscript, I'd have to say it changed enormously. The plot, the characters, the pace, everything.

My agent kept sending it out to editors to read, or film companies and they'd all come back and say, 'well it's not bad until page ten, then it goes down hill a bit..'

I must have re-written every line of the thing ten times. The opening scene of IN AND OUT is posted on my portfolio page, and I think you can tell it's been heavily worked on. I can hardly bear to look at it now, although I am proud of it.

But when my agent told me to revise stuff, I agreed with him, so I didn't hate doing it, it was just hard, hard work.

Hope this answers your question, and good luck with your work. Oh, and well done for being married for a quarter of a century. Yes, you should have a medal.

Take care

He must feel very confident that you will be published to invest so much time and effort. I read IN AND OUT - fast paced stuff, great. I was curious as to whether you minded because I get the impression that some writers aren't keen on revisions. I take all the help I can get.


Thanks, atb

Hi Echo,

I take all the help I can get too.

It's impossible for a novelist to be objective about his/her work. I see the process as a team effort. The writer has simply to be able to come up with ideas and write. Agents and reviewers are there to tell you where you're going wrong. And they're almost always right. I very rarely reject advice I'm given.

People who do, miss out, I think.

That said, I groan every time my work is heavily criticised (and it's always 'heavily' criticised). But if it's not good enough, it's not good enough.

One trick I use to stay positive that works for me is this: I tell myself I'd rather stay unpublished than publish a load of rubbish that I'll regret later. Some people get lucky and publish sub-standard work, but I think they always regret it later. It's a permanent record of a time when they were a crappy or lazy writer. I'd rather hide that in my bottom drawer.
Good luck

Hi Luke

That's a good thought to have around, if I get published I definitely want it to be my best effort, something I'm proud of no matter how many times I have to rewrite. Says she, crying into her advanced English grammar book

Yeah, it is frustrating.

One thing to bear in mind, though: Grammar is entirely unimportant in getting noticed. Characters and story are what agents look for. They can sort out the grammar for you. And if in doubt, write incredibly short sentences. You can't go wrong with those.

Also rules are there to be broken. Remember in the good old days when they said don't start a sentence with 'and', 'but', 'then', 'so'?

Nearly half my sentences start with 'and' these days because I like the flow. No one cares any more. (Thank goodness)