Dear Journal,
The writing of fantasy stories is an adventure! I have been editing my book with the help of multiple editors, each very different in personality. I am learning from all of them what kinds of details "need" to be discussed and which ones can be left up to the reader to create on their own. It is interesting to see people who have completely different personalities both point out the same word choice and that it needs to change. In moments like that, I find myself more open the changing words from one I prefer, because I can see a wide range of readers might not find the word helpful.
It is a grand adventure to learn the different ways people think and to hear about the images that come to mind when people read certain words. For example, one editor suggested using the word "mire" in one section. I agreed, as I thought the word fit, but I later found out it didn't fit the way I thought it did. See, my editor thought that the scene I was describing was all mud, so my editor suggested that word "mire" because it fit with what he was imagining. But in my head, the scene is muddy in some places and contains clearer water in other places. Adding the word "mire" ended up making the text fit what my editor had imagined, but not what I had imagined. I thought that was so interesting! One simple word can have such a deep influence on the image we derive from the text. Though there were many other words in the text to describe the scene as I saw it in my head, the scene we were working on looked different when just that one word was added. I have yet to finish clearing up the imagery in that scene to make what I see in my head appear on the page, so to speak (my editor agreed that taking "mire" back out would help) but the lesson was fascinating! Words are an amazing thing!
Sincerely,
Ondrea Keigh
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