Sunday, November 28, 2010

A Mid-Line-Edit Ramble on Line-Editing

I am thirty-five pages from the end of a first-draft line-edit of one of my amazing Spring 2012 novels, and I wanted to stop and put down some thoughts quickly about the work of editing, because they're thoughts I have every time I line-edit a book, but I never pause to write them out as I should. So here they are:

Line-edit:  The process of reading the manuscript line by line, word by word, and examining all of it for rightness and flow:  that these are the right words, the right thoughts, the right lines, and that they link up together in a way that coheres emotionally for the Imaginary Reader, that leads him or her clearly through the plot action and the protagonist's emotional development. The goal is as T. S. Eliot says: "where every word is at home, / Taking its place to support the others / . . . / The complete consort dancing together." I love line-editing, as it's the most intense kind of literary conversation possible: all the close-reading I did as an English major combined with the opportunity to say to the author "Did you mean this?" and "I felt that -- was that what you wanted?", the conversation between two people working for the same ends; and knowing, or at least hoping always, that I'm helping the author to make the book better, to make an even more amazing book happen.

The Imaginary Reader: This is the reader I am editing the book for. Sometimes this Imaginary Reader is me -- I didn't understand the link between this emotion or that one, or it makes no sense to me for this character to suddenly do this or say that, or some pronoun or thought isn't clear to me. But just as often the Imaginary Reader is someone else, someone who isn't as invested in the book as I am, who hasn't read the text before (as I have, so I know what's coming and why everything matters) and who won't read it three or four times over again (though I hope said reader will reread the book, the world is crowded with books crying out to us, and we should all be thankful for even one reading). And of course, as I'm a children's and YA book editor, I must remember the qualities of those Imaginary children and teenage readers versus my qualities as an adult reader -- if they have less attention span than I do or more, whether they'd want all that detail that bores me, if this vocabulary is too hard or too easy for the likely age of said reader, if they'll get the reference to "The Tempest" there (and if not, should we explain it somehow?), whether it matters whether they get the reference to "The Tempest" or whether they can just pass right over it, grow into it later.

It's important that the editor's view of the Imaginary Reader line up with the author's, at least in the large outlines; because otherwise the editor will suggest changes that the author finds utterly useless or stupid. I know I sometimes suggest changes designed to make the book accessible to as wide a swath of certain Imaginary Readers as possible, because goodness knows I'd like the book to sell to as many Imaginary Readers as possible! But a book that will appeal to every Imaginary Reader would probably turn out bland as romaine lettuce, and the certainness of those "certain Imaginary Readers" is important -- that the author and I should choose which Imaginary Readers are our primary audience (their reading level, their interests, their cultural references) and shape the book for them. But still, I can't help thinking it's good to have breadcrumbs for readers outside that swath. . . . This is something I think about, and wrestle with, every line-edit, leaving the ultimate decisions up to the authors each time.

(There is an entire interesting speech to be written about how each of us in the publishing process envision the Imaginary Reader, and how that affects the decisions we make at each stage:  writers, in what stories they choose to tell; editors, in what books they want to acquire; Acquisition committees and bookstore buyers, in what kind of books they think they can sell, and therefore the kind of books they take under their roofs; editors (again) in how they edit and write flap copy; book designers and marketers, in how they design jackets and form marketing plans to appeal to said Readers. And the supreme satisfaction when a book does find its perfect Imaginary Reader, or a perfect reader, period:  someone who gets it, who gives it a good review or recommends it to a friend or writes a letter saying "I read this and loved it:  Thank you." No sweeter moment for anyone in the process than that.)

The Process. I wrote "first-draft line-edit" above because I line-edit a book in three stages:  First I read it to get the whole in my head, how the plot progresses and the characters develop. I make notes on any big things that might need to change, especially any emotional angles that might need to be played out more in the plot. Then I do my first-draft word-by-word workthrough, careful and slow, writing comments (explanations of suggestions, compliments, questions) on some things as I go and in other cases just suggesting changes. I can be so laissez-faire comments-wise because I then do a second-draft readthrough to be sure all the suggestions make sense and feel good to me as a reader, and to address Inconsistent Editor issues below; and I fill in the rest of the comments then. Generally then I do one more sweep to pick up any outstanding questions or fill in notes on larger issues.

The Inconsistent Editor. This word-by-word examination takes a lot of time, as you might imagine, and thus most of my line-edits happen over a long period and in a wide variety of circumstances -- sometimes late at night, sometimes early in the morning, sometimes on planes, or in the office, or (my favorite place) at home on one of my couches, with sparkling water or tea at my side. (Right now it's a glass of sparkling water.) What this ends up meaning is that I edit with varying attention spans and in a wide variety of moods:  Sometimes I am tired or stressed or grouchy and thus not reading with as much generosity or closeness as I should, and sometimes I'm as alert as a squirrel to every nut of nuance, with as much affection for the text and author as said squirrel might have for its winter stockpile. (This is a simile I would certainly question in a manuscript, but I'm leaving it in this blog post because it amuses me.) Thus I need those second- and third-draft runthroughs to be sure my authors are getting me at my best and squirreliest, with all evidence of less bright-eyed Cheryls safely smoothed away. 

Paper vs. Word. I used to line-edit exclusively on paper, and I loved that, as it made that conversation with the author tangible in the blackness of the print beneath my fingers, the scratch of my pencil on the page. But for the last year -- indeed, almost the last two -- all my line-edits have been in Track Changes in Microsoft Word. There are significant advantages to editing in Track Changes that are nearly identical to the advantages of reading e-books:  easier and neater to mark up (or to erase marks); less paper, which is better for the earth; less weight in my bag (except when I carry my laptop about); swift digital delivery; a search function, which is well-nigh invaluable in tracking repetitions or navigating a manuscript quickly. And the disadvantages are the same too: the loss of the pleasures of tangibility and weight and messiness; the fact that I can't edit during the takeoff and landing of a plane! My affection for editing print is now directed at going over the first-pass proofread text of the book a few stages further on, as that still happens on paper and always will (surely, pray God, I hope).

Handing the Baby Over. I'm always nervous giving a manuscript back to its author, because the author holds the final judgment on my work, because the author is the only one who will ever see my work; and I want very badly to have served him or her well, and more than that, to have served the book well . . . to have edited in line with their vision, or helped them to expand or redirect the vision, if needs be, and to be sure every word contributes to that. I usually feel good about my work when I send the line-edit off -- the satisfaction of a job done to the best of my ability, and completed at last; but I also hold my breath a little until the author writes and says "All's well, edits moving forward, I'll send it back to you at X date."

And then satisfaction when the revision comes back in of seeing the author's replies to my side of the conversation:  the clarity, the tightness, the one word there that makes all the difference. The pleasure of making a beautiful thing, and the pleasure of the work itself:  When I doubt myself or this business, I remember those; and as the song says, they can't take that away from me.

23 comments:

  1. I loved this post. My critique partner and I work this way. It's one of my favorite pieces of the writing process.

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  2. Thanks, again, for such a revealing and helpful post! Lots of good ideas for my own work and critiquing.

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  3. I loved reading your insights into line-editing, Cheryl. Thanks for sharing them with us.

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  4. "Thus I need those second- and third-draft runthroughs to be sure my authors are getting me at my best and squirreliest,..."

    Hee. I love this.

    Thank you for all the insights, squirrely and otherwise.

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  5. What mental model do you use for the middle school reader. Can you express it in words? Middle school readers seem to vary all over the map in terms of skill.

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  6. fantastic post that offers so much insight from the editor's perspective. thank you, cheryl.

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  7. thanks so much for writing this! it's good to understand the editor's side of things, their feelings about creative partnership, and how much of themselves they put into a book.

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  8. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this post. It puts so much into perspective for me. I'm about to read through a first draft of a novel I wrote - so your insights come at a perfect time.
    Amy

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  9. I find it interesting you're just as nervous handing a finised edit to a writer as the writer is to hand it to an editor or agent. I never would have guessed...

    Thanks for sharing.

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  10. >But still, I can't help thinking it's good to have breadcrumbs for readers outside that swath. . . . <

    I always love when authors do this. Like the untranslated French in Dorothy Sayers (and I don't even speak French), or some of Brandon Sanderson's references to adult fantasy in his silly and wonderful Alcatraz series. It's very satisfying to find nuggets in a book that you know not everyone will notice.

    >And the supreme satisfaction when a book does find its perfect Imaginary Reader, or a perfect reader, period: someone who gets it...<

    Again, YES. There is nothing like when someone who doesn't know you reacts emotionally to something you wrote in just exactly the way you hoped. To have someone just "get it" is perhaps the biggest reward of all.

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  11. Cheryl, I'm intrigued with the paper vs electronic edits.

    I've done some of each and I find that with the comment function in track changes, I'm very tempted to bicker with my editor--spend my energy explaining why he's wrong or what I really meant rather than just fixing the text.

    Electronic edits feel more like a conversation so there are some ways in which it's more collegial and quicker. And perhaps as I get better at it, I'll be less combative. But I do feel like in paper edits I spend 99% of my energy on the story and only a little bit on the page or so of comments that I send along with it.

    Do you find you get a different type of revision from your authors when you use track changes?

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  12. Interesting, Rosanne! I hadn't really thought about that before. . . . Paper edits would carry a greater *weight*, I imagine, being more fixed and therefore, perhaps, authoritative; and forcing authors to consider their own words more deeply in the movement from paper back to their screens -- to take the revision slower, which is . But I've worked with three of my authors in both methods, and the quality of the resulting revisions seems about the same to me in both methods, though so many other factors can influence a revision too (the nearness of the deadline, real-life distractions for the author, the nature of the material and the changes requested) it seems sort of impossible to judge exactly. Hrmm.

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  13. Great post. Thank you for taking the time to write this down. I think line-editing is an art in itself, no?

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  14. Line editing is definitely one of the hardest things to do and sometimes the least appreciated. Thank you for your lovely and informative post!

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  15. I've worked with some great editors in my time - and a few not-so great! I find what you've written here really impressive. What a lovely post.

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  16. Thanks for the wonderful post! I had no idea you (agents in general) put in so much time on line edits.

    The info about the process will help me do this for my critique partners and my own manuscripts more effectively.

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  17. Great post :) thanks for sharing!

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  18. Thanks for the insights into your process. It's making me excited for Whispering Pines this spring. I'm looking forward to meeting you and hopefully, by that point, my own obsessive compulsive revision process will be over. I'm dreaming, I think. Have a great day.

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  19. Thank you for this post! (And for the peek into the mind of an editor!)

    My favorite part of the publishing process so far has been working with my editor. Receiving beautiful cover art is exciting and satisfying, but nothing comes close to working with someone who loves my story and my characters as much as I do and who really wants to help me make them shine. Invaluable!

    Of course, I had my fits and my rants...my feeling that I'd lost control over my project... But I came to understand my editor as you describe: a friendly ally who is just as nervous of my opinion as I am of theirs, and who is just as committed as I am to producing a beautiful finished book!

    :D

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  20. When you said that you get nervous giving the MS to the author, my eyes opened. I've never thought of the beta/crit partner/editor worrying about their edits. That makes getting them back much easier.

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  21. THANK YOU for this enlightening post!

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  22. Great post about editing. It is the bane of my writing existence; I either don't edit enough, or edit to the point of obsession. Blah. But some of the best things I've ever written in my works have come in the 20th edit, the last edit...

    I like that you take your job seriously, that you want to do the best job for your writer that you can. Kudos for doing a tough job well, and for caring enough to do it.

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  23. I've printed this blog to read at least twice more. Your insights will help me as (for the fourth time)I go through my manuscript, which was finished 2 months ago, for middle graders. I'm a student with The Institute of Children's Literature and a member of SCBWI.
    Your words will help me remember what editors go through as they line-edit. After this one last reading, I will begin sending this manuscript out.

    I also am very much encouraged by your thoughts, some pages back, about being away from your blog, feeling that you haven't been saying enough about what you really value, what inspires you, and more. I began my own blog with intentions of talking about those very things, and was contented with what was going on the page. Then, beginning to read about business blogging (I'm in business as an artist), I changed my idea of what I should be writing and tried to come up with business blogs. Disaster. I havn't come up with one business-blogworthy thought in months. Last week it came to me; "Go BACK to what you love to write about, telling what makes you want to write, to draw, and what keeps you going in your day. Don't leave what you love, for words you think people want to hear. It wouldn't have worked in your novel. It won't work now. The feeling won't be there. No one will care". Today, reading your words, I have got myself together and will start my blog again.I have missed it!

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