As you may have noticed, Buried in the Slush Pile has undergone yet another transformation over the past 24 hours. I have spend countless hours tinkering and moving widgets, columns, and various objects back and forth. The result? A blog that looks almost exactly the same as when I started it in 2006 with just a different color background, a graphic header (of stuff from my actual slush pile) and a wider spread.
Sigh. Sometimes there really is no point in messing with a good thing.
And this is a lesson that applies to revising, especially children and teen manuscripts. There is such as too much revision. Tinkering away at your manuscript can sometimes make it weaker instead of stronger. I've watched authors nit-pick at the things until the passages actually are choppier and more disjointed than they were 4 drafts before. Like everything, show some restraint and moderation when it comes to revising. And if you find yourself compulsively rewriting the same paragraph for the 45th time, it's time to take that manuscript or chapter to your critique group. Obviously you could use an outside opinion.
