Weekly Round-Up: fiction vs. nonfiction

I've been quite busy, but I vowed to keep up with my blog writing no matter what is going on with work, so here we are.

Over the last few weeks, I've done three editorial letters and two line edits. My eyes are aching. All the works were pretty different. Each one is like being plunged into a different vat of paint, I just get all colored up in some strange world. Then I emerge, exhausted and sometimes exuberant.

I was talking to a friend about the difference between editing fiction and nonfiction. With fiction, I feel completely forced to let go of logic. Though I do my best to explain why I think a change needs to be made, the best way I can think of to justify usually is just through an idea of what to do instead of what has been done. When I am editing or writing fiction, most of my thoughts are based purely on an instinct.

Nonfiction feels a lot more like assembling a puzzle. It seems more like following a basic template for how information can most accurately and clearly be conveyed. Often working on nonfiction feels less draining and more fun. If I'm working on a nonfiction project, I can usually find a few facts that will be interesting in a cocktail conversation.

If I'm working on good fiction, I sometimes do try to describe what's so good about it, but it totally feels like okay, describing honey is great, but it's not like tasting honey. 

Anyway, this bee is fatigued and retreating to the hive to rest.