Writers dish about editors

by Stacey

I enjoyed reading this piece from The Awl written by five published authors who write candidly (sometimes very candidly—check out Emily Gould's piece) about their experiences with their editors. There's so much great behind-the-scenes information in here about the publishing process—how agents work, how editors acquire books (or sometimes lose out to others), and how different each individual experience is. Even though it's written from different points of view, this piece speaks to how unpredictable the publishing process can be. Each author makes some wise observations about what you can expect, what you might actually get, and how frustrating and/or refreshing that can be depending on where you fall on that curve! The idea that editors are overworked and that your book isn't the only one on their list is something that authors and agents alike sometimes forget to take into consideration, so it's a good point. It also illustrates to me how important perspective is, both in your publishing career and in anything else you do in life.

In this piece, you're getting the scoop from those who have been through it. I hope you all find some good takeaway, or at the least an entertaining read, and ultimately see this a positive take on the publishing process. For me, even as an insider (or maybe because I'm an insider and know many of the players), there's a lot of juicy stuff in here!

Say what you mean to say....

by Miriam

The thing about publishing people is that most of us make a living being all judgy about other people’s work. For some of us, that extends to other areas of our lives. I find myself editing my friends when they start telling me about their job woes, their relationship problems, their kids’ lack of interest in homework, you name it. “If she’d started out with that information,” goes the internal monologue, “I wouldn’t be making a mental list of what I need at Costco and now have no clue what she’s asking me.” Most of the time, the editing also takes place in my head and I don’t actually ask for a stronger opening and a more concise narration.

Given that a large part of our mission is to tell authors how to ply their trade better, I’m often struck by how hard it is to give truly helpful advice on how to (a) write well and (b) be a successful writer. These “Writing Aphorisms” in the Huffington Post remind me that while we’re all incredibly preoccupied with the subject, analyzing and communicating the essence of great writing is as difficult as deciphering Gertrude Stein’s meaning…ever.

Can you share five elements that make up great writing for you? I’ll try to come up with my five and we’ll compare notes.

It’s really just that I so very much like using rather superfluous words.

by Rachel S.

For my very-first-ever real blog entry, I thought I’d have to look hard to find something both relevant and personally interesting to write about. Surprisingly (to me), it took under 5 minutes before this Huffington Post article, written by Linda Silversten, came to my attention. I jumped on it immediately in a guilty rush to see what she had to say about writers who use too many unnecessary words in their prose. Noting that in recent years published writing has become more and more conversational, Silversten took it upon herself to pick two recent bestsellers and count the number of taboo “filler” words peppering the pages for comparison. While Elizabeth Gilbert and Seth Godin didn’t err too far to overuse, Silversten still found an overwhelming amount of ‘thats’ and ‘sos’ in the portions of text she chose to tally.

I’ve known ever since in-class essays became a normal testing method in grade school that I have a strong tendency to write far too much and use more words than are necessary to convey a point or image. While this was a point of pride in school (I was always a little bit smug, though I tried to hide it, when I asked the teacher for more paper during every exam), I’ve eventually come to understand that MORE writing doesn’t necessarily make for BETTER writing. I’m still working on the short sentences thing, though. I don’t think that these little filler words that this article brings up are as much of a problem in my own writing as are an overabundance of adverbs and split-infinitives (the phrase still sends me running to the dictionary every time someone tells me I have too many). Are Linda Silverton’s taboo words just as much a problem for you as they seem to be for most writers, or do you have words or tendencies of your own that you work to suppress?

The Austen question

by Stephanie

As a former college undergraduate who majored in English literature, I was never too far removed from the world of Jane Austen. Hers are novels that are firmly situated in the literary canon, and rightfully so. Her writing is more than well-known for its ability to weave elegant moral thought with comically ironic plot turns that prove to be not only witty but profound as well.

So I was interested to see this article at BBC News regarding a three-year-long study that suggests that someone else was heavily involved in the editing process of Austen’s manuscripts, namely an editor who worked for her publisher, John Murray II. This is a pretty big revelation, and indeed one that could incite both discussion and derision. Some could argue that the claim diminishes Austen’s prowess, making her writing not the product of her own talent, but rather something from an editor’s red pen. In other ways, as the article suggests, it could stand as an indicator of Austen’s openness to trying new things with her writing.

Either way, it’s interesting to think that new discoveries can still be made two hundred years after a book is published.

Editing for Eternity

By Rachel

Every Friday I sit down and I start to write my weekly DGLM blog, and after writing and revising, revising some more, and then perhaps one more edit, I'm ready to send it off to Lauren (who'll look over it - sometimes suggest more edits - and then post to the blog). When I read my blog posts, I usually think I could've said something more interesting, or would rather have touched on an issue in a different way, so if it was up to me, I'd be revising my blog entries for hours before I turned in the final version (which is why I never start writing them until late Friday morning - so I'm forced to meet a deadline).


Blog posts are one thing, but thinking about the endless self-editing that goes with book writing exhausts me! If I ever had the guts to sit down and write a novel, I know I'd never be able to hand in a finished manuscript because I'd want to rewrite every page, and then make edits on the edits. Take a look at Jean Hannah Edelstein's Guardian article on the dangers of "overcooking" books, and if you're a compulsive self-editor, you'll relate easily to this one.


So, how many times have you revised your manuscript? And, are you ever really satisfied with the end result?

Typophobia

by Miriam

If, like me, you’re the kind of annoying person who corrects your friends when they use a word inappropriately or find yourself taking a pen to typos in restaurant menus, you’ll have fun with this top ten list. Some typographical/grammatical errors, in fact, are so egregious that they cross the line into delightful. I don’t know about you, but I always find myself cackling at stories of misspelled tattoos. I mean, if you’re going to permanently etch something onto your body….

What are some of your favorite grammatical bloopers?