Polishing versus Revising

This morning, my husband asked me if I thought there was a difference between revising a manuscript and polishing it. I thought about this for a moment. I believe that pausing to think is becoming more important in order to yield the best possible response. I'm in the midst of polishing a manuscript so I was relieved at the spontaneous distinction that emerged. I'd say that polishing applies to refining a sound framework whereas revising relates to reconnecting dots more efficiently, which is a larger job.

Positivity

My brother has advised me to update my blog regularly so I'm happy to do as he tells me. My first thought was to title this post, "Do What You Want," but it felt fraught with qualifiers due to an overwhelming sense of a global lack of consensus on the most basic thoughts, feelings, and ideas.

I hope that "Positivity" has a good chance of warming every heart.

My novel, TANNER BLUE, and my collection of short stories, MUSIC FOR THE DREAM won international awards last month. This is thrilling! I just added some lovely award icons to my website and made a few little enhancements. I invite you to see them for yourself at tannerblue.com.

Enough about me. How about you?

The Trance of Reading

Welcome to our very first interaction on this blog. I'd like to try a particular format. Once a week, I'll send a post directed to readers from my perspective as a writer. Each post will end with a question for us all to contemplate as readers. Let's get started.
Last September, I self-published my novel, "Tanner Blue," with lulu.com. This past May, I self-published, "Music for the Dream--Seven Short Stories," also with Lulu. I'm processing input I've received on my third novel, "Painted Deserts." Next month--yes, September again--I plan to send out this third manuscript to agents and publishers to see what happens.
I've had the good fortune to visit several local book clubs this past year. I'm mesmerized by the comments that I've received from many readers. In listening to those who are solid members of my emerging audience, I felt as if I was witnessing a trance similar to the one that I enter each time I'm in the "writing space." These experiences are tremendously gratifying and I want to build on the positivity of this interaction.
A few book-club members have expressed a lack of fulfillment in their groups. Book clubs are wonderful social gatherings for many book lovers, but I'm discovering that many readers want to take the work more seriously. My sense is that they'd like to apply some analytical skills and practices to their reading. So, this week's question is:
What kind of reader are you?