I love hearing from editors on Saturdays. Not just because it's usually good news (bad news can wait until Monday), but because it means they love their jobs and their reading as much as I do mine.
Now, I know you're thinking you'd rather we read during office hours--after all, wouldn't a manuscript feel more, well, assigned during formal work time--and, therefore, wouldn't we read more of it?
Well, yes and no: first of all, more pages read most definitely does not equal a better overall outcome--if we're hating page 30, it's not like if only we kept reading we'd love pages 200-300. And the average number of pages read is lower during the week. But assigned, obligatory, yes: we have a bit more of that feeling in the office, which is exactly why the Weekend Read is perfect. Reading during the week (and on the subway--which seems like a drive-thru Egg McMuffin munched at 60 mph versus a formal meal) is hurried, sped up by the fact that lots of other things (emails, calls, appointments, interns, coffees) are flying though the air at an incredible rate.
I think most of us use the taste-n-tell technique: if something's really good and obviously going to need a few dedicated hours, we mark it for the weekend. If I choose it over SNL (actually, I've given up non-Hulu programs, but you know what I mean), I know immediately that I like it. Same with editors, who are human and like television, too.
I've spent some of yesterday and much of today stretched out with a manuscipt on a topic I never thought I'd go for. It requires quiet, careful reading, as some of the best works do. Possible in the office? Maybe. Possible with my chocolate stash and one enormous chair? Abso-bloomin-lutely.
4 comments:
Ooooh I love My Fair Lady. Now I have that song in my head, I use to sing it all the time to my eldest when she was a baby.
I think it's only natural to take work home with you at times. Well, most especially in this industry what with home sometimes BEING your office (um, in my case, anyway). I say, as long as you're enjoying it and it doesn't feel like you're actually working, well, why not? If only every work day was like that. Wouldn't it be loverly? (couldn't help my self.)
I agree with Christa. Sometimes, taking work home is inevitable. It's far less painful, though, if it's the good ones you've saved! :)
www.shannonkodonnell.blogspot.com
I LOVE My Fair Lady. I remember campaigning for it for my sixth grade school musical. (We did Oliver, and I was a fierce little Fagin, so I could hardly complain.) But I still love love love the movie.
And loved the scene in Glee where Emma sings about how she could have danced all night...
And it's hardly painful to read at home. To me, they're just Kindle books that aren't books yet.
I'm loving all the Glee-related comments I'm reading today! (And I loved Emma's My Fair Lady number, too! That and Puck singing "Sweet Caroline" totally saved that episode after the double embarrassment of Mr. Shu doing "Bust a Move" and "The Thong Song"). Anyway, this brings up a question. Do you think since Glee has become such a phenomenon, there could be a wave of high school/performing arts-centric entertainment that might hopefully cross over into literature? Being a former theater geek, I've always harbored a dream of writing the Great American High School Drama Club Novel. I know you should write what you're meant to write and try to ignore trends, but Glee has me hopeful that artsy teens could become the new vampires.
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