Sunday, May 06, 2007

Mom's Glass is Always Half Full!

So my mom just got Jemma Hartman, Camper Extraordinaire back from her editor. The comments were NOT pretty. Phrases like Yuck yuck yuck! Oh dear! Too much! (You get the idea.)
If I got those kind of comments I would feel so hopeless. Here's my mom, looking at this manuscript, realizing how much more work she has to do. If I were her, I would feel panicked. But not Brenda Ferber, Optimist Extraordinaire.
This morning she told me, "I would much rather hear this from an editor than from a reviewer." Of course she was a tad bit upset, but she was so optimistic about it all. It was weird! She said, "Here's my chance to make the novel better." And she pointed out the nice comments. Like Good! Great! Good exchange! The story has come so far!
Sometimes her optimism can be annoying but other times it can be inspiring. There are times when I want to scream,"Can't you just be pessimistic for once?!" Other times I think, "Wow. I want to be like that. It's so cool that she can be so positive in this situation."

4 comments:

Jenny Meyerhoff said...

And, of course Brenda Ferber, Writer Extraordinaire, will soon be have a draft that she can be even more proud of!

But, oh, revisions! It's a little like standing at the top of a very, very, tall high-dive. You know it's going to be exhilarating once you jump. But before you jump you think you'd have to be crazy to even try it!

Jenny

granny said...

Good post, Faith! Thanks for the update - and Jenny, your comment was illuminating. I hate the high dive. This explain everything! :)

Brenda said...

I hate the high dive, too! I'm just so grateful I have an editor extraordinaire who believes in me!

By the way... Faith did great in her swim meet last night. First place in every race she swam. Go Faithy!!

Micky Baer said...

Wow, Faith!! First place in every race??? That's amazing. You've worked so hard. I'm totally impressed. (Though, I'd love you even if you were in last place).