Get Thee to a Copyeditor!

I am not a copyeditor but know that the work a copyediter does is significant to producing polished work ready for publication. I know this because, when I work with my amazing copyeditor Anne Fox, my work is grammatically correct, fact checked and concise. I do know my writing strengths and have many. But I am not consistent or correct with many issues that make Anne the genius she is.

Anne has become a dear friend as well as my copyeditor because she uses her talents and expertise to make me and my work shine. She is my go-to person before I send out any work to be considered for publication. That includes my clients' work as well. Her comments, suggestions, evaluations and notes on several of the books KOMENAR published, the final polish on all my current client work, and critical moments in my own work have made the difference between fear of rejection and certainty of the integrity of the work.

As you read through these blogs, you may wonder at my errors in punctuation and grammar. Well, I am not consulting Anne for each of these blogs ... at the moment. My primary goal right now is content content content. But as soon as I feel some stability in my process and discipline, I will turn to Anne for her appraisal of my work--then revise every blog entry but this one.

My choice not to use Anne right now is really a lazy one to get this blog going. I feel pressure to produce produce produce. Until this blog becomes a part of my habits and discipline, I find it hard to STOP and pass content before her eyes. I know this is not wise. The errors on this page will make some of you wonder how good can I be with my inappropriate adverbs, ever-so-many commas, and confusing, convoluted sentences that makes sense to me but not you. Well, there's the lesson!

My best work is a final draft without the benefit of Anne's keen attention. My best manuscript is the one that has undergone her inspection and been adjusted by me to her comments and suggestions. 

Every error or misjudgment or point of confusion is mine, all mine. I know this and will get to a point where I will consult Anne. She will note various significant issues, make suggestions and even challenge some of my thinking. I will take in each and every one of her marks, and make necessary adjustments. Then my work will be perfection, whatever that means--certainly polished!

When do you admit that your best work can still be improved? When do you realize that you do not know or have to know every fine point of grammar?  When do you realize that your friends and peers who proof your work may not know enough either? When do you consider a copyeditor?

So I say: Get thee to a copyeditor!

And, Anne, forgive me for using my own errors to prove my appreciation for all that you know and contribute to my success as a writer.

Writing is HARD work!

How many times have I heard people say that? How many times have I said that myself? And each time I’ve heard that writing is hard, I watched people smile. And each time I’ve said those same words, I've felt my own smile stretch into my cheeks. Then my mind goes to the pleasure of the work, the wondrous surprise of what I’ve written.

You bet writing is hard. It’s the best hard work there is. To write is to empty one’s self of ideas, words, rhythms and inspiration onto a page. Then we read what we've written. Yes, the first drafts have more problems than glitter. But within the unwelcome is the miracle of a character, the twist of conflict or tension, the wording that brings forth a world of feeling, texture, color, sound and sometimes aroma. Something of the promise of talent, some unspecified and as yet to be known inkling of what flows through us to the page.

I remember the first phrase of mine that caught me eye: "The unfamiliarity of wearing high heels made the depth of the reception area’s carpet a challenge to maintaining her dignity.” Not a great piece of writing by any standard, but the first time I felt the satisfaction of capturing my character’s predicament. Wow, I liked it. And then the workshop to which I submitted the piece all agreed that line showed a bit more talent and voice than I’d shown previously.

I also remember a writing teacher—my hero—say to me that we—WE—would work through my habit of beginning sentences with these long dependent clauses, a carryover from my years of academic essay writing. He showed me that transitions weren’t meant to keep the reader thinking, but allow for movement from one story element to another. And there I was, writing sentences that carried a reader deeper into the story. Wow, another breakthrough as I committed more to my writing abilities and craft.

Recently I wrote: "Now the nights too brought her to the foamy edge of salt water tagging her toes and the sucking of sand at her heels.” It’s only one line of a story, but I love it. I’m so glad I’ve stuck with my writing. Even in the face of others who might pick at a line, reject the work as a whole, or even wonder why I even attempted such a project. The efforts I need to make to accomplish my work, the translation of the story in my head to words on the page, the very breathlessness of making a paragraph work satisfies me like little else. I feel like the musicians I always admire who bring me melodies on which I can drift into places I’ve never been before. Now I know I can go places with my own inspiration, craft, and talent by writing.

Do We Really Need ANOTHER Blog on Writers and Writing?

Probably not ... but I'm doing this for a selfish reason. Writers keep asking me about craft and story and process, and I keep answering these questions in emails and during writer events. So it occurred to me that to capture much of this in a blog might be a good idea. Not that I mind revisiting all these topics, because I don't. New examples, fresh outlooks and different voices force me to rethink some ideas and answers. I like all of that. Teaching is a two-way experience: I teach you and you teach me. A nice experience all around.

Today I begin a somewhat systematic series of steps in order to make available my various thoughts, experiences and "answers" to situations, dilemmas, and curiosities encountered as we write our hearts out. I'm going to throw in old and new stuff. Old would be represented by the occasional appearance of "rejection" letters I wrote when I was a publisher. New will be the questions that are asked by clients and workshop attendees as recently as yesterday. 

Hopefully I can be brief, direct, and show examples. Fortunately examples are easy to come by as most writers will share bits and pieces of their work ... and then there are the many published works that show both the skill and magic of a great writer and unfortunately work that was not polished for a world of readers. I will not make fun of any but I won't hide from even using my own errors in judgment and lack of craft to make a point. After all, why not? The great Jane Austen line comes to mind: "For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our own turn."

So today I break a bottle of fine red wine across the bow of this ship, The Blog. I set her to sail up and down the wide and narrow river ways and across oceans of many kinds, hoping that with her goes goodwill. Hurrah!