Good Vs. Great
Kobe Bryant is a great basketball player, my personal feelings about the Lakers set aside for a moment. Of course, every basketball player in the NBA is pretty freaking good. They have to be. They’re professionals. As far as the general population is concerned, they’re at the top of the game. (Yes, I’m doing a sports metaphor, go with me here)
But it comes back to Kobe. Yes, it does. Among the elite, Kobe Bryant stands out.
There’s a big difference between guys who play basketball at the public school courts, and guys who play for the Celtics. But the difference between Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom is not as easy to define.
That’s the difference between good, and great.
I got another set of revisions on the partial of The Russian. And as I read the letter I felt…picked on a little bit. How could I have thought of all of those details? What reader would pick up on something so subtle? Surely, only an editor would notice that!
So, as I was having my customary, post-revision whine, my dad brought up Kobe. And how it’s the obvious things that separate amateur from professional, but it’s the subtle things that take ‘good’ to ‘great’.
Maybe a reader wouldn’t finish a book and think ‘hmmm, that book would have been stronger if the hero’s reaction on page 25 had been slightly less self-aware.’ (now, some readers would…I’ll grant you that! But I’m not one of them!) But a reader might finish a book and think…good. But it wasn’t AMAZING.
And I think that might be true. Maybe amazing is in the subtle. A great plot, awesome characters, that’s hugely important. But execution is the key. There’s the broad execution, and then there’s the details.
As a side note, I did the little tweaks and one of my CPs remarked that it was stronger, even though it was only little itty bitty moments that were altered (as part of the broad scope of giving my hero a bit more alpha confidence, and also having him be a bit less familiar with the heroine) but the changes really altered the partial in a positive way.
All that whining…I should know better by now. 🙂
So I’ll make a personal attempt at greatness, at the very least, I’ll be better than I was before.
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Great post Maisey! And I know those revisions probably seem shocking and unfair and even annoying at the moment, but remember your own words – lol – about revisions ALWAYS making a stronger book 🙂
Way to go Dad! 🙂
yes, Rach, they do indeed. And they’ve certainly made this one better. But a half an hour of whining about revisions is healthy and expected. 😀
Mary, indeed, my dad is a wise man.
How is it that you seem to know exactly what advice I need exactly when I need it? I’m editing, re-editing and re-re-editing my first chapter for the New Voices comp and I’ve reached that point where I’m thinking: “Yup that’s it – no more to do there” and I’ve just rewarded myself with a peek at my fav blogs and wham bam it’s illumination time with Maisey! Honestly you and your Dad are worth your weight in gold. I’m off now to go back over the chapter and subtle the heck out of it! Thank you Maisey (and thank your Dad for me too)….. And Kobe while you’re at it.
Joni, anytime my own pitfalls can help someone out…I’m happy. 🙂 Hey, best of luck with the comp. I’ll be blogging for it on the comp site. Not sure when, but I’m excited about it!
I really like that analogy. I never would have thought of it that way–the difference between good and great and how the reader might not pick up on why, but feel one over the other in the end. Interesting! 🙂
Nicole, I don’t know that I would have thought of it either. But as my dad said it, I had a light bulb moment. I’m an avid reader. I know when I hate a book. But some books are fine…no reason not to like them…and then there’s the books that leave you bawling at the end for characters you’ve truly connected with. That’s harder to define as a reader, and harder to achieve as a writer!
Which is why I’ve stopped whining and done my revisions. 😀