I’m old-school.
There’s nothing like sitting down face-to-face with someone to understand what they’re really thinking. On 2011 January 29, three short months after we first started working together, Rachel and I meet in Chicago to review Book One’s story arc and the “pages,” as she calls them, that I’ve sent to her via E-mail.
It was a quick drive from Detroit to Chicago for Sue and I. Fortunately, our usual place is available downtown and it’s close to Rachel’s home. The three of us get together for lunch at the Omni’s restaurant. Good food and a great view down Michigan Avenue.
After lunch it’s into a cavernous room for the two of us while Sue goes off to cause trouble with the locals. This room could easily seat 50 if not more people. There we are at one square desk in the middle of the conference room trying to decide which of the two chairs we’ll select to use from the available four.
Things go much better during the meeting. Rachel is very sharp and obviously both a good editor and a good writer. I leave with her words of encouragement: “When you write, show me, don’t tell me.”
On to another rewrite with her words in mind.