Editor's Notes: The Editor's Editor

I need to write. I need to keep up with this blog. I need to chisel away at the stacks of books piled up on my nightstand awaiting my review. Fortunately, I’m able to steal a minute now and again to return to this project. I appreciate the kind patience of all the authors who have been put on hold for so long. Hopefully, within the next few months I’ll be able to provide the content they were promised, although not quite as quickly as I had hoped.

~*~

Today, I offer one of those “everybody needs a good editor” posts, a subject I love to harp on, as any reader of this blog knows. However, this one comes with a twist: every writer needs a good editor, even editors who also write.

A few months back, I whipped up a short story. It sprung from some flash fiction and grew from there. Then, since it seemed to fit into the theme of a short story competition, I polished it to the best of my ability and entered it. It didn’t get picked for their anthology. Despite my repeated references to readers whose opinions I trusted, countless adjustments, and a precision word count that met the maximum limit with exactness, the two judges didn’t think as well of my work as I did.

Their evaluations sat on my desk unopened for a few months because I dread (just as much as any author) the red pencil of death which I knew awaited me within. Not so; I received just a 1-5 grade scale in seven different areas. The judges gave me numbers, little else. One kindly left a positive comment. The other felt I tried too hard to be artsy and had inadequate tension or conflict (I still don’t get that). I got a 4/5 from the kind one, a 3/5 from the more critical.

Sr. Editor McKenna Gardner

But, since I wrote this months and months ago, I’m giving myself a bye for not following my own advice. I have since corrected that egregious error, with happy results. The trick here, my friends, is to use an editor whom you both respect and trust. It’s not about who will be the most kind or who will give you the most strokes, but who will help you produce the best work within you. Who will properly guide you to your goal? I turned to the senior editor at Xchyler Publishing, McKenna Gardner.

A good editor is like a good coach. They identify strengths and help the author stretch their muscles, build their stamina, and fine-tune their literary muscle memory. They identify weaknesses and drum them out of the author. Like the coach, the editor doesn’t replace the author. They do not rewrite their stories; they draw them out of the author. They assist the author in fulfilling their own highest potential. They’re the author’s personal cheering section. 

All that said, I required no fewer than thirteen separate versions to make my short story worthy of public consumption. After all that trouble, what did I change? I added a grand total of 131 words to the manuscript—one hundred and thirty one excruciating words wrenched out of me with painstaking care. 

Months after the short story competition had come and gone, why bother? Simple: I wanted to explore the possibilities with such a coach in my corner as those that we have at XchylerPublishing.

If you would care to review the product of our exertions, you can review my separate post, Crossroads, here. Leave a comment and tell me what you think.

Editor's Notes: Making Dialog Flow

Writing dialog provides ample opportunity to trip up the reader.  In this post, I discuss the four most prevalent.

He Said/She Said

Have you ever read something that went like this?

"You just don't understand," I said.
"Tell me what I don't understand," Maggie said.
"Anything," I said.

Boring!  Flat.  Redundant.

Use the plethora of verbs that identify speech, as well as those which evoke visceral responses.  Some eschew the use of identifiers as an unnecessary distraction, but by inserting carefully considered words in appropriate places, counterproductive becomes enhancement. What does "retorted" say about a discussion? What about murmured or sighed or blurted or cooed?

"You just don't understand," I sigh.
"What don't I understand?" Maggie probes.

But, even that gets old very quickly.  Use the many tools available to prevent this, as I identify in "Say What?" below.

In some instances, especially in situations of continuous dialog, simple running quotations serve. The reader is hurrying forward, so no need to slow them down:

"You just don't understand," I sigh.
Mary steps closer to me.  "What don't I understand."
"Anything!  You don't ever see what goes on around you."
"That's not fair."
"But it's true."
"I don't know why you believe that."

I think of it as a train working up a head of steam. The first identifiers are the initial chug-chug-chugs, until the conversation reaches a pretty good clip and sails along, eliminating the need for further explanation.

However, as a writer, one must be careful of the danger (one I often stumble into) of losing track of who said what. To avoid this, throw in a physical response indicating emotion and/or a bit of staging to remind the reader (and yourself) who's doing the talking.

Editor's Notes: About Beta Readers

About Beta Readers:

Beta what? the second letter of the Greek alphabet — symbol B or β;   often attributive : a nearly complete prototype of a product (as software) not yet ready for commercial release (from Miriam-Webster.com) 

In a literary sense, beta readers are those who read and provide feedback on your manuscript before you proceed to the layout/printing phase of your book, be it indie or mainstream publishing. Alpha reader? That’s you, the author.

Who are they?

Beta readers can be anyone you like: your friends, your family, people you trust, people whose opinions you respect. Are you too nervous to expose your work to your family and friends? Join a writers association. They can be found everywhere. They exist to build up and support one another and to provided the much-needed feedback writers require to produce a good manuscript. Join a Facebook group focused on your specific genre. Just Google it. You will find more options than you will know what to do with. Many times these groups are far more helpful than your family and friends as they will tell you the truth, not prop up your ego.

Editor's Notes: Query Letters, Synopses & Manuscripts

I find myself amazed at the difference in my attitude about publishers after only a week at Xchyler Publishing.  To say I have learned a lot would be an understatement.  The prospect differs immensely from this vantage, and here I sat with the unenviable task of playing the jack-booted control freak as a matter of survival.  Insanity and I have parted ways intermittently over the past 18 hours, but somewhere in the chaos this treatise burbled forth and got plastered all over the group lounge.  Surely not enough exposure for this crazed lunatic, it's as good as anything else for blog fodder.

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From Unabridged.Miriam-Webster.com:  Synopsis: 1 : a brief orderly outline affording a quick general view (of a treatise or narrative) : a condensed statement : ABSTRACT 2 a : a brief outline summarizing the action of a proposed screen play or television script b : a summary of a completed film (as for cataloging in a film library) 3 : a conjugation by one person and number synonym see ABRIDGMENT 

One way to write the synopsis is in outline form. They include a chapter-by-chapter description of the book with headings, subheadings, points, etc. Vital elements include: 

1. Plot development/arc 
2. Character development 
3. Theme 
4. Structure/sequencing (how the story is to be told) 

What the synopsis does for the editor:

1. The editor learns very quickly whether or not the story interests them or is marketable through their publishing company. 
2. A good synopsis allows the editor to judge whether or not the story is told in a clear manner. It will alert the editor to various mechanisms and divergences which may seem inappropriate or confusing but are placed with very specific intent. Your synopsis is the map the editor uses to follow your journey. 
3. A good synopsis can compensate for an author’s weaknesses.   Perhaps writing skills or techniques trip up the editor and prompt a rejection.  With a strong synopsis in hand, they may be willing to see the diamond in the rough. They may decide the storytelling is worth the effort of refining the writing. For the difference between storytelling and writing, see this post.  Such a synopsis could prompt a “revise and resubmit” suggestion, which is a heckofalot better than a form rejection letter. 
4. Providing the properly constructed synopsis demonstrates to the editor both the author’s willingness and ability to work within their guidelines. Producing a book is complicated. Rules are created to simplify the path to success. Authors who staunchly maintain their individualism by failing to comply end up in the reject pile. 

Editor's Notes: Mentors

I have been thinking a great deal about mentoring recently: giving, seeking, maybe a bit of mutual give and take.  No matter where you are in life, there is always someone who has been there and done that on some scale, in some sort of semblance.

Throughout my life, I have had mentors, and those from when I was younger still retain the most prominent places in my heart.

The Relief Society president who believed when I was in my early twenties whose love and careful guidance while I served in a position that seemed to large for me prepared me for the next which felt overwhelming.  Hard on the heels of that calling, I was put in a Relief Society presidency.  Another dear, dear sister provided me with the strength and guidance I required in dealing issues way, way over my head and kept me from foundering.  She gave me confidence when I had none, soothed my hurts with wise words, and even lit the path before me far more than she ever realized.

When I remember these ladies, my heart fills with love and appreciation for the examples they set me and the things they taught me which have served me in good stead for the past twenty-five years.

Here I am now in the same place or even advanced of those ladies then and find myself providing mentoring others but at the same time requiring some myself.  Fortunately, like them, I find a great deal of fulfillment in giving back a bit of what others have bestowed upon me.  In writing, especially, I look to those I emulate to light the path ahead of me.  Fortunately, I have a wealth from which to choose.

Editor's Notes: The Who, What and Why of Producing A Book

NOTE: With my new position as editor-in-chief at Xchyler Publishing, I've found myself writing a lot of correspondence, explanations, and outlines of the procedures required to create a book. One memo in particular that went out to employees and authors consumed far too much of my day, and since it's pertinent to this blog, I thought I'd make the most of the effort and post it here as well.  Double-duty? Sure. Wise utilization of resources? Absolutely.

The College Interns, the Gatekeepers:

Euphemistically called "editorial assistants", these screeners are very important for lots of reasons, but especially because they may mean failure or success for both author and publishing house. Consider the first eleven editorial assistants swamped under slush piles who rejected J.K. Rowling's query for Harry Potter. You can be dang sure they've been kicking themselves for almost twenty years. (It's kind of scary, actually, to think of our fates in the hands of unpaid college interns).

Interns screen the initial query letters sent by authors, which usually contain a short jacket-flap blurb, an overall outline usually 1-2 pages long, and the first 10,000 words or three chapters of the manuscript. Hopefully, with much guidance and mentoring, the interns decide to either ask for the full or partial manuscript, send them a rejection notice, or invite them to revise and resubmit. For R&Rs, the publisher does not agree to publish but will reconsider the manuscript if the author brings their skills up a notch or three.

Marketing:

If the manuscript shows promise, Marketing and Editorial then get together and decide if there is a market for the book. If positive, the author is presented with an offer, then a contract, and everything goes into action. Working with the author, they will also decide on a release date for the book. Several factors will influence this, including but not limited to seasonal trends and genre. Books need fresh releases when people who buy them are in the mood to spend.