I was going through the most recent notes on "Inherent Flaws" and not remembering some of the things in there -- the way I'd phrased parts of the story, actions, orders of appearance. It was driving me nuts, thinking I'd slapped through the last version, so I pulled it up and compared what I sent to the guy I'm writing this for and what he'd sent back. And he changed my style.
He fucking changed my writing style.
Now I know I'm not that tight with this story. Vinnie's his character, really -- based on him -- not mine. His experiences are different from my own, still I used what he told me and worked with it and made it as good as I could. But while it's one thing to point out errors and omissions and typos and missing words and where things don't make sense, it's something totally else when you just rewrite the way I've written it. That pisses me off.
You don't like my writing? Fine. I may not agree with your choices, but they are your choices to make, not mine. Hell, I've read books that have won Pulitzer Prizes and writers who've won a Nobel and wondered, Why? I lost a friend once because I didn't love a book she'd recommended...in fact, I couldn't even finish it...and she took it as a personal affront. I've never done that to anyone -- dissed them over their preferences.
Granted, there are movies I think are brilliant that others think are just okay, and I've sometimes used that as a gauge to determine if I will take that person's recommendations on anything in the arts. And I've gotten into arguments over the merits of a movie, or lack thereof. We all have a little of that in us. But I recognize it's all personal taste, like in fine art. I would not dream of redoing a Jackson Pollack (even though I think he's overrated) into something by Willem de Kooning (whom I think is more interesting). Some people prefer the former to the latter, and it's not my place to force them to see things my way.
So why would anyone..ANYone think it's okay to do that to me? Shit.
He fucking changed my writing style.
Now I know I'm not that tight with this story. Vinnie's his character, really -- based on him -- not mine. His experiences are different from my own, still I used what he told me and worked with it and made it as good as I could. But while it's one thing to point out errors and omissions and typos and missing words and where things don't make sense, it's something totally else when you just rewrite the way I've written it. That pisses me off.
You don't like my writing? Fine. I may not agree with your choices, but they are your choices to make, not mine. Hell, I've read books that have won Pulitzer Prizes and writers who've won a Nobel and wondered, Why? I lost a friend once because I didn't love a book she'd recommended...in fact, I couldn't even finish it...and she took it as a personal affront. I've never done that to anyone -- dissed them over their preferences.
Granted, there are movies I think are brilliant that others think are just okay, and I've sometimes used that as a gauge to determine if I will take that person's recommendations on anything in the arts. And I've gotten into arguments over the merits of a movie, or lack thereof. We all have a little of that in us. But I recognize it's all personal taste, like in fine art. I would not dream of redoing a Jackson Pollack (even though I think he's overrated) into something by Willem de Kooning (whom I think is more interesting). Some people prefer the former to the latter, and it's not my place to force them to see things my way.
So why would anyone..ANYone think it's okay to do that to me? Shit.
All I'm going to do now is edit this piece. Clean up the grammar and correct any errors I find that were of my making. And that will be that. I'm done with it. And the only reason he's going to get that much is because he didn't mess with one of my personal works. If he'd rewritten LD or BC, I'd have cut him off.
I've grown an inner lion when it comes to my work, backed up by a dragon; you don't be messin' with either one, trust me.
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