tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post6800232929337532009..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Editor? Catherine CzerkawskaKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-73559367551142408662013-06-19T17:14:57.222+01:002013-06-19T17:14:57.222+01:00William, you are right. The aim should be to make ...William, you are right. The aim should be to make yourself - as an editor - redundant! It's a learning process. Richard, I'm very pleased the 'Wuthering Heights' piece helped. Don't let anyone ever discourage you. 'Do it this way' is never the way to go about it. But too many people seem to think that editing involves changing a piece of work into the book or story they might have written themselves - not the book as the writer intended it to be. The trick is always to help the writer to make THAT book as good as it possibly can be - and as William says - to help somebody to become a better storyteller in the process. Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-86107822918352523902013-06-18T21:41:39.242+01:002013-06-18T21:41:39.242+01:00Catherine,
Loved your piece. As the mentoree refer...Catherine,<br />Loved your piece. As the mentoree referred to by Dennis, your words give me encouragement to trust my instincts.Richard Kirwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-25800404126621707722013-06-18T20:51:32.522+01:002013-06-18T20:51:32.522+01:00The correct goal of editing is not to make your st...The correct goal of editing is not to make your story better. It's to help you become a better storyteller. Your goal as a writer should be to become proficient enough to not need an editor. You will always need a proofreader. You may always lean on folks you trust for advice. You should collaborate with other writers as appropriate. But your stories are yours when you can tell when they are "done". William Ockhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13795149116565627671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-35377953563663126122013-06-18T14:22:02.297+01:002013-06-18T14:22:02.297+01:00When you have a great editor, it's wonderful a...When you have a great editor, it's wonderful and incredibly helpful.<br /><br />Unfortunately there's not many of them around.<br />madwippitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02595748471651052552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-33527666825639185702013-06-18T13:10:04.859+01:002013-06-18T13:10:04.859+01:00Nice one, Nick. You're right, Elizabeth. It di...Nice one, Nick. You're right, Elizabeth. It did change. It used to be that if you had the backing of a producer for a project, you were pretty sure of a production. Then they introduced something called 'Producer Choice' which - as far as I could see - drastically reduced that choice. And then the dreaded 'script editor' came along - an unknown concept in radio until that point. I remember getting a set of notes from a furious producer with his own (excellent) notes and a script editor's (prescriptive and contradictory) notes in different fonts. He had been told to send them to me, but he was so angry about them that he had subverted the whole exercise!Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-24848439024412818142013-06-18T12:00:33.311+01:002013-06-18T12:00:33.311+01:00"Murder your darlings."
"But my Ed..."Murder your darlings."<br /><br />"But my Editor is such a darling."<br /><br />"Well then..."Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-24033147181226791362013-06-18T11:58:16.942+01:002013-06-18T11:58:16.942+01:00I started out in radio as well. Those were the day...I started out in radio as well. Those were the days when producers said, "I want a play that puts my job on the line!" And then it all changed.Since then I've had good editors and bad editors,but working for the BBC in the seventies was a joy. Elizabeth Kayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16773078844943829786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-16148114608188448392013-06-18T10:36:14.100+01:002013-06-18T10:36:14.100+01:00A terrific post, Catherine. I've had many goo...A terrific post, Catherine. I've had many good editors in the past who've taught me so much. I remember Pam Royds once shooting a lot of very pertinent questions at me about things I hadn't thought through properly, each one hitting the spot. When she saw me looking a bit depressed, she said 'But I couldn't even begin to do what you do." Which shows proper humility and the respect for each other which writers and editors should have. Yet one of my writing mentorees has just had his first novel, which I think is good and well worthy of publication, examined by a 'literary scout', who asked to see it. On the basis of the first three chapters, she sent him a damning report on THE WHOLE BOOK - God knows how she could have done that - full of futile 'do it this way' comments. He was so upset and wanted to give up writing completely. I sent him the well-remembered and much-loved Houmongous Books report on Wuthering Heights. Sadly, he recognised it all. Perhaps the WH report wasn't satire after all.Dennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15781139870037634374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-51777282370984444682013-06-18T10:02:28.336+01:002013-06-18T10:02:28.336+01:00Have to say I can see both sides of this. I rememb...Have to say I can see both sides of this. I remember one writer telling me how his editor would change stuff ('the old woman by the bus stop in the rain' to 'the young couple smiling in the sun' kind of thing), to make it less bleak. That really shocked me, and I've reviewed novels where authors have thanked editors for every word. these authors tend to be younger which is worrying - they don't have the confidence yet to reject this. On the other hand, I've been lucky to have had great editors for each of my books, who improved things without taking away what I wanted to say or how I said it. Maybe because I was older when I started publishing. Good editors are worth their weight in gold. Lesley McDowellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05421445518857097564noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-68678507074718645432013-06-18T10:01:31.616+01:002013-06-18T10:01:31.616+01:00Yes, more wise words, Catherine. My radio drama ex...Yes, more wise words, Catherine. My radio drama experiences resembled yours (Ah, those wonderful pre-Birt days) and the two editors I've had for novels published by mainstream publishers contributed enormously to the finished product.<br />One of them was such a diligent researcher that he found mistakes in material that I was convinced I'd got right. He even pointed out that the name I'd chosen for a character was that of a nun who'd been guilty of abusing children in a Nazareth Children's Home. The home is about a quarter of a mile from where I live and the editor's based in Florida.<br />But the other, a hugely talented editor in London, made structural suggestions that gave some of my scenes much greater impact. I asked her why, with such obvious gifts for character observation and narrative techniques, she wasn't herself a crime writer, but she insisted that, while she could always see how stories could be improved, she'd never been able to generate text herself. The professionals have very special skills.Bill Kirtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16345949773423764808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-16022549636605932022013-06-18T09:57:33.593+01:002013-06-18T09:57:33.593+01:00fabulous. This can't be said enough. Just yest...fabulous. This can't be said enough. Just yesterday I was watching a very long thread on a writers' site where everyone flatly insisted that every writer must have a professional editor and utterly refused to accept the art analogy. <br />After a time you give up arguing back and get on with writing. Dan Hollowayhttp://danholloway.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-44674560698440572802013-06-18T09:27:56.893+01:002013-06-18T09:27:56.893+01:00I agree with everything you say, Catherine! I have...I agree with everything you say, Catherine! I have been taken aback by how meekly many writers will change their books in ways they are not at all happy with, on an editor's say-so. Making changes that you know, really, are right is one thing - but changing your book in ways that make you miserable and angry is quite another.Susan Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738737493756183909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-72010286706630127282013-06-18T09:09:50.247+01:002013-06-18T09:09:50.247+01:00Wise words Catherine, and I know what you mean by ...Wise words Catherine, and I know what you mean by edits and rewrites. On one book I did 22 full revisions! I've stopped counting now, because it depresses me!Chris Longmuirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02488093821886798927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-2677830681558881832013-06-18T08:53:21.467+01:002013-06-18T08:53:21.467+01:00That's a really good analogy, Lee. And an expe...That's a really good analogy, Lee. And an experienced visual artist friend says much the same thing. I don't know why writers always seem to think they they 'need' extensive edits, that writing a novel or a short story must always be a collaborative process but it's a fairly recent development and one we seem to have bought into.Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-493868941930477132013-06-18T08:29:43.545+01:002013-06-18T08:29:43.545+01:00Excellent post! The main thing I've learned in...Excellent post! The main thing I've learned in the last decade has been that, given time - and lots of careful reading of both good, mediocre, and bad writers - I see the things I should have changed/deleted/rewritten in my own work. And I still remember what my daughter's first violin teacher, a Russian of the old school, said to us: 'There will come a time when she will have to teach herself, if she wants to be any good.' More than merely competent, he meant.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-64988459389169394682013-06-18T08:27:40.537+01:002013-06-18T08:27:40.537+01:00This comment has been removed by the author.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.com