Monday, August 8, 2011

Revisions: The "I'm From Sweden" Approach

I believe there are two types of writers: 1) those who run away screaming from revisions, 2) and those who embrace them. Strangely enough, I belong to the latter group. But I am constantly thinking about writers who whip out their crossbows, aim, and fire! whenever someone says the R word. 

This post is for you, my friends.

And... for people who like Alexander Skarsgard... a lot... 

*cough Lindsay and Michelle cough*

So. For those of you who don't know, this is Alexander Skarsgard:



And he's on this show:



Which is currently in its fourth (super awesome) season.


The Skarsgard is out promoting the show left and right. A couple days ago, he made a stop at the Regis and Kelly show. He talked about his character, Eric Northman:




Was humiliated:


And was asked this question:

"Do you get nervous about being disrobed in front of so many people?" 


To which he replied:

"I'm from Sweden."

O_o

Kelly, who was the one to ask The Skarsgard this question, barely even finished it. She got so uncomfortable talking about nudity that she stumbled a bit. 

The Skarsgard? Not so much.

If you find revisions uncomfortable/scary/daunting/impossible, this is my advice to you: BE FROM SWEDEN.

Which means: don't let them faze you. You are awesome. You can PWN revisions any day of the week. They are not uncomfortable/scary/daunting/impossible. Attitude goes a loooong way, folks. So does confidence. Believe in yourself. Believe in your craft. 

And never give up.

Now if you'll excuse me, I must finish packing for my trip to Sweden...


Tell me: do you embrace the revision process? Or would you rather avoid it like the plague?

21 comments:

Janet Johnson said...

Too funny! I now have a new mantra.

"I'm from Sweden!"

Huntress said...

OMGosh!! Best Blog Post EVER!!
*still laughing and ogling Eric/Alex*

Huntress said...

If you accept awards w/o strings, come to my site for the original Blog On Fire award.
http://spiritcalled.blogspot.com/p/blog-on-fire-award.html

Unknown said...

Fine Sarah sent me over here and I'm so glad I came! Yah, I'm fruuuum Sveden...

Sarah said...

There are not enough words for how much I love this.

Michelle McLean said...

*le happy sigh* love it :D Awesome post :D I tend to embrace revisions. I might rethink that a few weeks in lol but for the most part I enjoy revising :D

Magan said...

I don't know what this whole post said...I just saw a pretty Swedish man.

Becky Mahoney said...

HEEEEE! Thank you for this post. I needed that. <3

Katrina L. Lantz said...

LOL! Hilarious! Thanks for the pep talk, Amparo and Alex.

Tere Kirkland said...

LOVE it! LOL, I couldn't care less about Sookie these days, but Eric...!!!

I'm definitely going to remind myself this in the future: "I'm from Sweden." (Actually, I think my Scand ancestors were Norweigan, but close enough)

LinWash said...

I'm from Sweden!

Hermana Tiffany Garner said...

Haha! Great post! For me, it depends on the day whether I'm from Sweden or not. But I shall try to be more like Skarsgard! :)

Francesca Zappia said...

Embrace! Embrace the revision. It can only get better. (Usually... if you're making it worse, you're probably trying too hard...)

The Skarsgard makes every post better.

Landra Graf said...

I love this post, and make room in your suitcase because I'm going with you to Sweden.
Revisions are indeed the bane of existence to some, myself included. I always feel like I'm going to make everything worse instead of better. Ick! Next time though I'll just say: "I'm from Sweden, so suck it up WIP."


P.S. I just knew Amparo wrote this one. Guess I'm psychic.

Lindsay said...

*looks at pictures* What was the post about? Oh, yes, revisions. I'll admit I do LOVE revisions. So I'm from Sweden on that one ;-)

Amparo Ortiz said...

THANKS, everyone!! LOL, we are all from Sweden!! #TeamSweden

Seriously. I'm making T-shirts.

Huntress--Thank you SO MUCH for the award! I accept it on behalf of my cohorts here at OA! *hugs*

Landra--What do you mean you KNEW it was me?? *giggles* You are the best psychic in the world. Nuff said.

Michelle and Lindsay--I aim to please :)

Kelly Polark said...

I'm one who loves Mr. Skarsgard and True Blood. And believe it or not, I'm part Swedish.
But will have to work on things on fazing me. :) But seriously I don't mind the revision part so much.

Natascha said...

Before my current project, which is in revisions, I loved revisions/edits. Now, I hate them to death because I am having to rewrite the entire book. I gave up on for four months. I needed a break before I stopped writing all together. However, now that I am sinking back into the book (and have time), I'm falling back in love with the story and my characters. I think it's all about passion when it comes to revisions. The level of commitment I have for revisions is the level of excitement I have for my book.

Briane said...

I hate revising -- but I know I have to do it. "Be From Sweden" is as good a motto as any!

Kelley said...

I got back and forth. I HATE it, and then I'm like, I can make this more awesome, and dive in, lol. Oh, and I <3 Eric from the 1st four books. Sigh. I haven't watched the show though.

Jack LaBloom said...

It's a good thing I thrive on revisions, because I have to make a lot of them. My great grandfather was from Sweden. I guess that explains it.