Rewrites and Copy Editors

I have not done any work on my novel - not on paper, anyway. Inside I can feel that I am working on the new idea and it will be all the better for it.

My latest romance has been quite heavily edited. If I had time, I'd print out the original and compare them two versions.

I did this once with a novella, and I learnt a lot. Copy editors are a mixed blessing. It's true that they make your text easier to read, and I picked up some great tips on managing pronouns etc, but sometimes I could kill them. In the novella, an American character says: 'Hey, you got one hundred twenty! You did real good' and a diligent copy editor changed it to 'Hey, you achieved one hundred AND twenty. You did very well.'

I have to finish a pile of college work and then I can go back to the novel.