The Cost of Compromise

I recently had the experience of my editor advising me to cut some of my favorite scenes. A flurry of emotions followed her advice. These scenes, to me, represented the real heart of my novel. All the rest of it was fluff so I could get this story told.

And somehow, I had failed to make it come across as essential, or even important.

Failure, short and simple.

I felt completely lost. If I cut these scenes, then I no longer knew why I'd written this book. What exactly was I agreeing to? Sure, the book might be good, but would it be mine?

I felt like I'd sold my soul.

Luckily, I have a fantastic editor. I am so glad for that. I told her what I thought, and she and I--compromised. We came to an agreement. And I'm very satisfied with it, because it leaves much of the heart to be told in a later story. Which will lend more life to my sequel.

All you authors out there who read my blog--because I know there's a lot of you--have you faced similar situations? How did you deal? What was the end result? I'm so curious.

Oh, and a head's up--on August 18 I'll be interviewing Karen Jones Gowen, author of Uncut Diamonds, here on my blog. Many of you probably aren't familiar with this new author. The interview will give you a chance to meet her. And don't forget about the Christmas contest going on. Read all the entries and vote on the best one here (can't vote till August 16). I do have an entry.