on being edited
Because it turned out to be quite fun for Meg McKinlay, Sally Murphy and me to all write about the same thing last week, we thought we’d try it again. Today our theme is ‘being edited’. You can read Meg’s thoughts here, Sally’s here and if you roll your eyeballs downwards just a little bit, you will find mine.
I feel I should preface my own account of the editing process with a more general observation. I have often been warned that whatever-it-is-I-am-about-to-embark-on will certainly be the most grim and soul-destroying experience of my life. It happened when I began my degree, when I began my PhD, when started teaching, when I started lecturing and it happened again when I first started writing for children. And without wanting to discount the experiences of the people who offered me these warnings, I never seem to end up sharing in them.
I suspect this is only partly a matter of temperament and is mostly a matter of luck. (Certainly in the case of editing I have seem to have been blessed with particularly skilled and lovely people to work with – so far mainly Sue Whiting at Walker Books Australia and Penny Matthews at Puffin Books Australia.) But anyway, my point is only that if you really disliked your studies, your work and your experience of transforming a chosen pastime into a job-of-sorts, there is a chance you might also really dislike being edited.
So, editing seems to happen in phases. Of course, you do quite a lot that could be called editing before your work ever gets to an editor-proper. You read it over and over and fix up what you can, but still miss a large number of typos and plot inconsistencies and slight implausibilities. Then you give the work to your mum, your sister or a friend with a literary bent and they spot a few more, which you consider and fix. And then you do a big swallow and hit send.
In my experience, the first formal edit starts with bigger issues, like a chapter ending weakly, or a plot line not sufficiently (or else perhaps too easily) resolved. Then when those problems are worked out, there is another edit for slightly smaller ones, like forgetting that Mum is in the garden and so can’t really turn round and make a cup of tea and noticing that Violet seems to have stopped wanting something she wanted very badly only a paragraph or two ago – that sort of thing. And then there are quite a few rounds of edits that go back-and-forth with quite small problems, e.g. ‘Anna, we know you quite like the word ‘quite’ and we quite like it too, but we did wonder if you would consider using ‘quite’ only three times in every sentence rather than, sometimes, twelve. Usually I am happy to cut one or two ‘quite’s.
So that’s the nuts-and-bolts of it and you’d be mad to imagine that there is not rather a lot of work involved in writing a book that happens well after the story has been sent off. But how does it feel? In my experience, good. It feels as though there are skilled, experienced people on your side, who love and are invested in your work and can’t bear the thought of it being released into the world until it is as strong as it can possibly be. They are as passionate as you are, but with better perspective. I’m sure it happens, but so far I have never been told I have to change anything. It’s more a matter of having a problem (that I was often half-aware of already) clearly articulated, making it much easier to solve.
In sum, I would have to say that rather than being something to dread, being edited is actually one of the big perks of having your stories published. Editors form a kind of safety net to make sure neither you nor your beloved characters will fall too far and for me, that sense of safety frees up a lot of creative energy.
“It feels as though there are skilled, experienced people on your side, who love and are invested in your work and can’t bear the thought of it being released into the world until it is as strong as it can possibly be. They are as passionate as you are, but with better perspective.”
Yes, exactly this. And I love what you said about having the safety net freeing up creative energy. I feel that too, but hadn’t quite realised it until now. I think recently I’ve had to be a little firm with myself about not sending work off too early – that knowledge that the editor will help fix things perhaps also has the potential to lead one to rely on that, rather than forging through alone.
Though there are also times when I’ve known there was more work to be done, but equally that I couldn’t get there alone, and that even though the ms was undercooked, it was better to send it, and get a new set of eyes on it, rather than keep struggling away with my own blinders on.
I quite loved your post. And now that you mention it, you do use quite quite a lot, don’t you? Is it mostly in Violet, though? It sounds like her. I don’t think it’s a word I use very much at all.
Love this, Anna:
“People who love and are invested in your work and can’t bear the thought of it being released into the world until it is as strong as it can possibly be.”
Yes. That is something we have to remember – that the editor is not just necessary but also has you/your story’s best interests at heart.
One thing I’ve found is that most times an editor will take the time to explain WHY something needs to be changed.rewritten/abandoned, which makes it easier both to cope wth the suggestion and to make the actual change.
Dear Anna, I quite agree that editors are quite a blessing and provide quite a safety net, fresh eyes, and quite a lot more!
Quite is such a curious word, when you really look at it!!
Having assisted editing short stories, I can say that I always tried to help the author express exactly what it was they wanted to say, while never trying to alter their voice.
Anna, I am so glad to read that “rather than being something to dread, being edited is actually one of the big perks of having your stories. Editors form a kind of safety net to make sure neither you nor your beloved characters will fall too far and for me, that sense of safety frees up a lot of creative energy.”
Some writers see editors as critics sigh…:-) I really enjoyed doing it, I felt I was part of a team to get the story out the way the author wanted it.
Dearest Anna, I have been enjoying reading this “series” you have begun with Sally and Meg, and when I am not utterly swamped with a project of my own, I have vowed to hop over and read what Meg & Sally each have written themselves…
I marvel and delight in how you manage to take potentially dull topics such as “reviews” & “editing” and create charming, droll, and at turns sensible and serious observations about them.
xo
You make the process of editing sound utterly wonderful!
“‘Anna, we know you quite like the word ‘quite’ and we quite like it too, but we did wonder if you would consider using ‘quite’ only three times in every sentence rather than, sometimes, twelve.”
Made me giggle, so well-expressed! My writing always seems to overflow with qualifiers (?), too – “quite” and “rather” and “sort of”.
Meg, such interesting thoughts as always! And yes it is Violet, mainly, who uses ‘quite’ but I still suspect myself of using it more than I should.
Sally, yes, the ‘why’ is so important for keeping the dialogue open. And even if I’m not sure that a suggested change is quite right, this extra bit of information makes the problem much easier to address.
Jo, isn’t it??
Sue, I didn’t know you had worked as an editor but I can imagine you were a very good one – the perfect blend of skill, tact, patience and cheerfulness.
Margaret, thank you
. Almost everything is interesting when you really look at it, isn’t it? I’m looking forward to being one of your informal reviewers some day soon.
And Emily, yes, that is my own exact list of overused words too!