It’s a Puzzle ~ editing fun

A lot of writers think that they are all done when they’ve finished writing their book. In fact, they are just beginning! We’ll skip over the getting an agent/publisher/etc part, and go straight to editing, as I am, in fact, working as a book editor with a couple publishers. Now, this is a topic for a different post, but I firmly believe that authors and editors are a team, working together to make the book the best it can possibly be. The author knows what they want to say, and the editor helps make sure they actually say that!

But along the way, there can be some compromises and some puzzle pieces that fall out and have to get put back in. (Some, mind you, look like they belong in your book, but in fact, do not. But again, a topic for a different day.) So if one piece gets moved or deleted, it can mean other pieces need moving or deleting or expanding or they need further explanation somewhere you weren’t expecting.

Now, here’s just a small example of this. A few months ago, I finished working with author K.D. McCrite on editing her book Eastgate Keeps on Singing. (And yes, K.D. told me I could post this…. though she may not remember by now! 🙂 )

Anyway, on my last read-through, I noticed that we hadn’t mentioned a car that, in a previous scene, was sitting in a parking lot, so I made a comment in the manuscript. When she sent it back, she asked me if the car might have been towed. Well, by noting that tiny fact, it meant we had to rewrite it a bit.

My response with my suggested change:

Page 106 –? I don’t think the police would have towed it. And I think it’s okay not to mention later… So anyway, how’s this?

“I pulled in the church parking lot, turned off the car engine, and sat quietly. A Mercedes sat baking in the lot. I assumed it was Ira’s. Was I supposed to do something about that? One more thing to think about, but right then I had more important issues to resolve.

“I gazed at the building for a minute. The hot sun of early afternoon beat down mercilessly…”

Her response:

Fine, except can you juggle the part about the parking lot just a tad? Let’s show “the hot sun of early afternoon” bit first, so that the “baking” car makes more sense when it’s mentioned.

My response:

Oh, duh. How’s this?

“I pulled in the church parking lot, turned off the car engine, and sat quietly. The hot sun of early afternoon beat down mercilessly. A Mercedes sat baking in the lot. I assumed it was Ira’s. Was I supposed to do something about that? One more thing to think about, but right then I had more important issues to resolve.

“I gazed at the white stone walls and pillars of Eastgate. The bell tower with its tall white…”

And finally, we agreed that was a good solution and sent it on to the publisher.

Writing and editing books is all about taking various pieces and fitting them together. If the character’s car was in the parking lot, it can’t just disappear. Something has to happen to it. And when that “something” happens, then the story has to reflect that. And we can’t have a car baking before the sun is beating down.

As my author (as in, I’m his editor) J.L. Gentry said, “A book is an organism. There is a adage in systems theory that you can’t just change one thing.”

He’s correct. So yup, it’s puzzle. Good luck keeping all the pieces straight!