Attached At The Hip?

Before I get into today's post, I wanted to mention something that happened to me last night when I fell asleep with the tv on. An hour after I fell asleep, my subconscious woke me up instantly when it heard a reporter announce that Bin Laden was dead.

I don't discuss politics on this blog, so I moved my 'contribution' to Facebook. I've waited a long time to repeat this joke. Stop by when you get a chance.

***

On to today's post.

People sometimes ask me if it's hard to sell my chicks or the other animals I've raised. Or worse, put them in the pot. They want to know if I get attached to them.

Sometimes. But I try very hard to remain detached while they're with me. (Obviously, that never works with dogs--which is probably why I've had so many in my life.)

But writers have similar issues. I'll bet every writer who reads this can say he's been attached to his characters or stories at some point during the process, or they know someone (even themselves) who thinks of his novels as children.

When there has been sweat, tears and sleepless nights over a story, it's hard not to become attached. For the sake of your sanity (not to mention ease of editing) you must fight the urge to get all parental with your work.

There's nothing more suicidal than loving a story so much that you can't be objective about what to cut and what to enhance. I love my stories, but I'm not 'In Love' with them. Does that make sense?

And let's hear it for getting older. I have a terrible memory, but it has one terrific benefit. It helps me retain my distance by forgetting pieces of my stories.

My books are not my children. I don't have secret relationships with my characters, and I don't cry when I torture them. On the contrary, I actually get giddy when I find a new way to make life difficult for them.

(Admit it, you get that way too.)

The published book is history. It's past tense. It's a story that's already been told. I gave it the best I had at that particular moment in time. The rest is for the reader to decide.

But how about the books I'm working on presently? Am I intimate with those characters? Are they my children?

I hope not. I try not to create a dependency because my ultimate goal is to be completely objective when I edit. Yes, my critique partners help a lot in that regard, but ultimately, it's my responsibility. It's not my CPs' job to catch every problem area. It's mine. 

When the time comes to let the book go to a publisher or editor, I have to feel I've done all I can to make it the best book possible. It's up to my characters to sink, swim, or go in the pot.

How attached are you to your story once it's done?