My wife has been reading about how to hook readers. I think she is getting into my book writing more than I am sometimes. Anyhow she is now throwing out ideas for my rewrite of chapter 1 and 2. She even rewrote the first scene of chapter 1, though a lot of it is still my stuff. I appreciate her help, but she is kinda overwhelming me while I'm trying to finish the story off. I really need to get this rough draft finished.

Gud, you have to set boundaries or it'll make you nuts. My husband was like that a little when I first let him read my work. He got so into in and enjoyed it so much and while he never dreamt of rewriting a single word, I still remember him coming into my office one day after he'd read a chapter and asking "So, where are we going next with this?" and I nailed him with a look and replied, "What is this WE you speak of, Kemo Sabe?"

I mean, I don't presume to know how it is for you, but writing is such an intensely me thing-- it's always so difficult to share those first drafts and to have someone layering their own vision and ideas over my own before I've even had time to really digest and percolate and think of what changes I might want to make really feels like a bit of a violation.

But then again, I'm wicked protective of my work. Don't mind the crazy person in the corner...

It's a tricky balance. She gives me great input, but I'm just not ready yet. OTOH, like her mother, she can be a bit all or nothing. She can hear a minor criticism as you don't want my help at all. I figure I just need to stay so busy getting the draft done that she can't engage me in the revision process until I'm ready.

She's not really rewriting my stuff, more just trying to give me ideas of how I can approach it or rearrange things. Which is great, just not quite yet.

Well, you're a stronger person than I am, Gud. Because I would be all, "Write your own book and stay the hell out of mine." So, um.

::snorgles her sister in crankytown::

S. is a great brainstorming partner for me, because he's completely objective and when I ask him if something works, plot-wise, or what a conflict might be, he can really rattle off some stellar ideas. Most of the reason I sold that YA project years ago was due to him helping me shape the story.

Of course, he has no interest in writing. Just the idea of him revising something I've written is hysterical, because mostly I envision someone holding a gun to his head to make him do it, both because he doesn't want to write and because he would know exactly what my reaction would be.

I value the people I ask for plotting or character development help a hell of a lot, but I ... just don't want anyone else *inside* my manuscript, tweaking as the spirit moves them.

She's better at writing than I am in many ways. However, she says she couldn't put together a story and characters like I do.

Well, you're a stronger person than I am, Gud. Because I would be all, "Write your own book and stay the hell out of mine." So, um.

We'll see how revision goes. It could be an adventure.

I finally let Hubby read the two stories of mine that are in one of the Drollerie anthologies, because I figured, "Published and out of my control, there's not much I can do about it now," but he found many "helpful" things I should try and get fixed in the final product, including a disagreement with my entire approach to the main character. I pointed out as gently as I could why I preferred my approach, and he was all, "Why did you have me read it if you didn't want my ideas on how to fix it?"

This is a guy thing, right? The need to fix everything? Hubby is very useful when it comes to factual knowledge, because he knows oodles of things that I don't, but he has an odd approach to characterization.

Hmmm....

Here's how I think my first few sentences will go in my revision of Chapter 1. (This is just off the top of my head).

Demons. Aimee didn't fight demons. For that matter, she didn't fight anything. She spent her days sitting at a workbench, putting together the next gadget she was assigned to make. Yet here she was, heart thudding painfully in her chest and sweat starting to drip off the tip of her nose. On the other side of the wall, she could hear the heavy footsteps of whatever had killed at least a half dozen soldiers.

Here's what she showed me...

Aimee stared thoughtfully at the remains of the three demons. When she was ordered on this mission, she assumed it would be routine demon-demolition, a routine as destroying demons could be, at any rate. One demon would be routine. But three? Three was startling. The total devastation of the farmstead was further testimony that whatever had brought the demons here was out of the ordinary. What would draw three demons to one location?

I can see that our approaches will be different. I suppose that won't all bad. If I'm forced to explain why I want to do things a particular way, then I'll have thought it out better than if I just do it. Sort of like a source code review in my actual work.

I can see that our approaches will be different.

Well, I think it's a little more than that. That's two completely different styles/voices.

And what I like about *yours* is that it's very immediate, very personal, really letting the reader into both Aimee's head *and* the action, which is awesome.