Tutorial: Making the Most of Working With Editors

At some point in our calling as writers we'll work with an editor, maybe a professional hired to review our work, or a friend we've asked for help. For the next week, we'll focus on tips for making the most of this relationship.

There's a fallacy about editors that those who can do, and those who can't teach. But good editors understanding writing, the writing process and writers. Many write, too. Your editor probably won't become your best friend, but should strike a balance between professional objectivity and nurturing your talent.

Here's a good example from writer, editor and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association board member Beth Bruno. "Whether editing fiction or nonfiction, I focus on enhancing the author's voice, style, tone and content, always keeping the reader in mind."

Visit Beth at Beth Bruno at Book Editing

Fine-Tuning the Short Story: With Christiana Langenberg

This Word for Words segment features multi-award-winning author, writer and professor Christiana Langenberg. Also an award-winning short story writer, Christiana has authored the compilation Half of What I Know, and a number of short pieces.

In Half of What I Know, Christiana shows the results of fine short story writing, and discusses the challenges of that genre.

AA: What do you find most challenging about writing shorter pieces?

CL: Several things. It can be difficult to follow the initial impulse to write a story and trust that eventually the characters will reveal the plot, etc., to me as they themselves develop.

AA: What types of things do you have to decide?

CL: Point of view (usually first or second for me, though occasionally third) and then figuring out if there's going to be something particular about the way the narrative is shaped can also take lots of rumination (I long ago discovered these things can't be rushed).

AA: Do you adopt any techniques to help with the process?

CL: I try not to talk about stories when I'm working on them because I feel it takes away the energy from the writing. I also do not show any of my close editor/friends any drafts until I'm fairly sure the story is nearly completely finished. I then use feedback to fine-tune certain scenes or images and to verify that the beginnings (maybe more importantly the endings) work. Another couple of revisions later, and the story is usually ready to send out for publication.

For Christiana's Half of What I Know, visit Christiana Langenberg.

Re-Vision and the Cold Light of Reason

Meet multiple award-winning nurse poet Cortney Davis. Also the poetry editor for Alimentum literary journal, Cortney has authored Leopold’s Maneuvers and a number of poetry books. Her latest book is a series of essays, entitled The Heart's Truth: Essays on the Art of Nursing.

An active and working caregiver, Cortney finds joy in the revision process of writing.

AA: Give us a sense of your writing process.

CD: I find that, at least for me, the writing process is one part inspiration, one part making-my-self-sit-down-and-do-it, and two parts revision. I've discovered over the years that I really don't like to write—until I get into it.

AA: That's an honest appraisal. Take us through the process after the initial idea.

CD: I might have an idea or an inspiration, a vague and amorphous "something" following me around, but until I make myself sit at my desk and get to work, that inspiration goes nowhere (and can so easily be lost). And I can find plenty of excuses not to get to my desk: plants to water, bills to pay, floors to sweep, phone calls to return. But when I finally do get to writing—perhaps hours or even days later—-hen the creative process takes over and I'm in another world. Hours may go by, but it seems as if time stands still.

AA: What happens in the next stage?

CD: Once that initial "blob" of writing has been done, once I have a rough draft or two of a poem or an essay printed out, I must let that initial work rest for several days. If I try to revise or edit too soon, I can kill any piece of writing. It's as if that initial creative burst, that fire, has to have time to cool before I can sift through the embers.

AA: That's an important point. We've all ruined work by going back too soon. What happens then?

CD: A few days or a week later, I can return and, in the cold light of reason and craft, re-vision the original work and make it better. Although I drag myself kicking and screaming to the initial writing process, I love to revise. There is nothing better than spending time re-reading, re-thinking, going deeper, looking at sounds and words and sense and taking that initial raw inspiration and turning it into something that goes beyond the first impulse, beyond the self.

AA: Nathalie Goldberg mentions "re-visioning" as well. What happens when you hit a dry spell? Or do you hit dry spells?

CD: Alas, I'm a slow writer; sometimes there are no inspirations, and so I must force myself to sit and stare at the empty page until something happens. There are plenty of times that an idea might arrive, but it falls apart in my hands or I can't do it justice. Rarely, very rarely, the urge to write is so strong and compelling, and a poem comes so rapidly, that it takes my breath away. Those are the shining moments every writer lives for. But, usually, my creative process is a plodding one.

AA: What's your advice to writers in general?

CD: Do the work; let it rest; look again and revise, all the while hoping that all my years of trudging have taught me something: to do the work even when I find it difficult, to have the patience to wait, and to trust that mysterious inner voice that shapes the final product.

Visit Cortney at Cortney Davis

The Essential Writer: Writing as if Life Depends on It

Meet writer Linda Merlino, awarded the Connecticut Press Club Runner-Up for Best Fiction of 2009 for her novel Belly of the Whale. Linda is a real working writer, as in a writer who has two novels under her belt and a third under way but still juggles other work, family and, well, life.

Now crafting her most demanding novel ever, Linda knows the less romantic side of writing and the importance of what used to be called the "perspiration" side of inspiration.

LM: Writing my third book in 10 years does not exactly make me prolific — persistent, maybe, but not prolific. The third manuscript should be a piece of cake, as the cliché goes; but, no, cake it ain’t.

AA: What's involved in writing this book, and what role does daily discipline play?

LM: For one thing, the discipline needed chafes my inner free spirit; a five a.m. start is the key, but not always achievable.

AA: Most of us write, and — meaning we work at other jobs and write, too. What's a good day in the writer's life like for you?

LM: When I am in a rhythm, it clicks — rise at five, dog, yoga, write, work, home, dog, dinner, write, sleep. Throw in, or throw out, the following: fending off life’s surprises, also life’s responsibilities and oh, yes, having a life.

AA: Where does your inspiration come from?

LM: My inspirational thought: Nothing to do but write, write as if my life depended on it.

Visit Linda at Linda Merlino

Strength in Numbers: What Happens When Writers Collaborate

Meet Emmy winner Susie Bedsow Horgan — with a background in drama on Broadway, in Los Angeles and in daytime TV as a writer and producer, Susie was on the writing team of One Life to Live, and was executive producer as well.

Now a life coach whose niche is “designing the next act of your life,” as well as a writer venturing into screenwriting, Susie knows what real collaboration is.

AMA: I'd love to get your take on writing in collaboration—what was it like writing for a daily TV show?

SBH: I think collaborative writing is one of the most exciting ways to write. For years when I worked in soaps, collaboration was a big part of our writing process. First of all, it's always so thrilling to hear other's great ideas; that in itself sparks your own creativity in ways that sitting in front the blank screen can't. Also, its fun to exchange ideas and then to have those ideas greeted with enthusiasm and support. I spent many happy hours sitting around the writers' table with my colleagues hammering out stories and episodes. We'd laugh as we wrestled with the knotty problems unique to daytime television. The experience bonded us, and we are all still friends.

AMA: What about the collaborative writing you do today—what form does it take, and how does it energize you?

SBH: I find that being in a writers workshop also does the same thing. Sharing your writing with other writers who are supportive, as well as knowledgeable and talented, spurs one on to work harder, go deeper and be truer to one's own voice. In addition, I continue to collaborate with a number of different people on different projects. The connection with another creative being is always energizing, exciting and very productive. I love the combination of writing on my own and writing with others as well.

Visit Susie Bedsow Horgan at Get a Life With Susie

Quite a Character: Making Them Memorable

Here's the latest in a series of dialogues between writers — this time with short story writer and novelist Connie Keller of A Merry Heart.

CK: Something in your postcard sparked thoughts about place/setting. I've read to treat place as a character. I understand what's meant by that, but I wasn't sure how to translate it to the page for a murder mystery without slowing the pace. And, of course, I want those place/setting phrases to serve a double function within the novel to create layering.

Then it occurred to me that one way to create place and develop character is to use the different responses of the characters to place so as to define it and create contrast between characters. For example, my main character, who's new to the South, finds it confining and claustrophobic. Another character finds the heat empowering—it fuels her.

AA: You can show the response of two characters to where they live through an occasion where they are naturally together, and through dialogue and scene show how they react to where they are and each other. One obvious way to deal with setting is weather, but there are lots of nuances to southern living, especially for a transplant. Even more interesting is the prospect of a role reversal, if it's organic, where the transplant finds the weather empowering (sick of the cold) and the native finds it a downer (looking for change). The same could occur with other aspects of southern living. The transplant thinks everybody's cordial; the native finds them superficial.

CK: Yes, I think if we really want to show place as a character and still develop our characters that's the way to go. Then place becomes as contradictory and complex as a character. And we can use it to show growth and change in characters as their relationships change. I did a bit of this in the novel (in a subtle way), and I'm really excited to do more and be a bit bolder about it.

As I was thinking about editing this novel and working on the sense of place, I read something by Flannery O'Connor. She has very little pure "place" writing. There are a few "red clay soil" phrases, but not many. Mostly, she establishes a sense of place by character attitudes and writing Southern idiom, which I wouldn't attempt. But there are other techniques, like characterization, I can use to create place. Or even through action and plot. For example, what would a Southerner do/say when a "bad guy" is murdered? That gives me an opportunity to combine plot/dialogue/place (even characterization) all in one sentence.

Show or Tell: How Do You Know?

It's amazing how a simple conversation can spark a line of thought. That happened with friend, writer and multiple Hemingway style award-winner Jack Schmidt. He posed a writing question we all consider: Is it always better to show than tell?

The usual answer, that showing is better, is a point made so often it has lost its meaning. For clarification, here are two examples:

• Stabler stared at the money on the desk. It was clear from his bemused expression there was some interest. [not bad]
• Stabler gaped at the stack of twenties, then wiped his mouth. He looked at me. "What do you want me to do?" [better]

Generally, showing is better because the writer uses detail and more precise language, rendering him or her invisible and making the reader's experience more satisfying. Think of classes where the instructor used the inductive approach instead of lecturing for an hour. As in the above example, showing works best in setting scenes, creating dialogue and moving the plot along through the characters' eyes, preferably all at once.

But one great point made in a recent post is that in writing, rules are made to be broken. Telling usually works better than showing when the writer must convey a lot of information (e.g., back story) in a short amount of space. This can be done through devices like flashback, but sometimes it's best to just say Cal Jones was in prison instead of showing him there.

Ultimately, the test question is: Which technique serves the story best at that particular point?

Let me know how "show versus tell" works for you.

What’s in a Name: “Call Me Ishmael”

Can you imagine Herman Melville's Moby-Dick starting with the line, "Call me Steve?" A dear writing pal and I were talking on the phone last night during our monthly long-distance writing group, and she mentioned something quite profound. She was telling me how hard it is for her to come up with character names: "Then I found this name that when I put it into the story, I said, 'Yeah, that's it.' Then I knew who my character was." Of course, my friend knew who the character was—we were discussing the protagonist, and the first draft of the story is done. But when my friend put that particular name into the story, she not only had the satisfaction of a name that matched the character, but a character who matched the name and whom she now understood in a way she hadn't before. That kind of insight will make editing draft two a lot easier. It also gives readers an immediate sense of the person, or place, they're reading about. After all, a rose by any other name might smell as sweet, but it somehow seems better as a "rose" than "cabbage."

As promised in the New Year, we're sharing links and resources. So, here's the link that helped my friend select a great name for her main character:

Writing World (Names)

If you have a trusted writing site, including your own, to share, send it to Adele Annesi. To put today's musing into action, check out the writing tip at the top of the list, and let me know how it goes.