At the beginning...

I get asked, quite often, how I got started as an editor -- but to tell that story (for another time), I have to start at the beginning....

I would have to blame two teachers as initially responsible for getting me into this mess: my seventh-grade English teacher, whose name, sadly, I have unfortunately forgotten (give me a break, it was 3,000 years miles away, in Pennsylvania, and many (many) years ago....), and my twelfth-grade Journalism teacher, Mrs. Doris L. (I'm using only the initial of her last name, to protect the guilty, of course....).

In seventh grade English we learned -- studied -- had hammered into our very being -- sentence diagramming: complex sentences, over and over and over again, such that I could diagram entire paragraphs in my sleep. This taught me to spot misplaced modifiers, incorrectly referenced pronouns, etc., etc. with the eye of a sniper siting through a scope. Unbeknownst to me at the time -- one doesn't think beyond the present moment when one is being hammered! -- she taught me the beauty, the rhythm, of an elegantly written complex sentence.

Mrs. L, on the other hand, was more of a facilitator, a mentor, but more on that shortly. One of my fellow staff members on the school newspaper was Mike W. He had the responsibility each issue to share with readers the goings-on at other high schools. So Mike traded copies of our school newspaper with dozens of other schools throughout the U.S. He came up with a name for his column: "The Lid's Off." You and I know, of course, the double meaning of that title, but not so the faculty of our high school at that time. When each issue of the school newspaper was published, we all got a bit of a high-school chuckle seeing that column title. Yes, I know, it's very sophomoric, but then again, we were all sophomores.... (Actually, we were seniors, but you get my point.)

For whatever reason, Mike W. quit high school about the halfway point and enlisted in the U.S. Navy. We weren't best friends, so I never learned his rationale for such a decision, just one day he was at school, and the next day he was gone, and Mrs. L. informed us of his actions.[1]

Once Mike was no longer on the newspaper staff, Mrs. L picked me to take over his column. I liked the name of the column, but the content was BORING. Imagine reading dozens of high school newspapers each week, and selecting the most exciting news to share with your fellow students. It was probably what drove Mike to enlist in the Navy! This school in Utah is hosting their annual spelling bee. And this school in North Dakota had to cancel their father-daughter event because white-out snow conditions resulted in road closures. Like I said, BORING.

So, I approached Mrs. L with a suggestion for a change in subject matter (but keeping the column title, of course!) -- content that would be of more interest to students given the current climate: a music review column. Thankfully she agreed, and I was issued official school press credentials.

And let me tell you, those credentials got me in free to so many concerts, and the occasional backstage pass, too -- and one-on-one interviews with many of the performers... I truly never minded having newspaper "homework" on evenings and weekends.

But I digress.... Mrs. L taught us that, because a newspaper has limited space, each word must count, each word must be critical to the content: there is no room for luxury. We edited our own writing, and then we edited each other's writing. After which, Mrs. L would review our work and show us what poor editors (and often writers) we really were.

The newspaper class, at least for me, was an escape from the reality of the rest of high school. Because I went to a lot of concerts in the evenings and during weekends, I often used my time in newspaper class to study and catch up on homework for other classes. I guess as long as I was working, regardless of what I was working on, Mrs. L never hassled me. I found her class a sanctuary.

At the end of my senior year, she signed my yearbook:

Martin -

You may have felt imprisoned in school this past year, but in reality you've been "growing" in a very visible, if gradual, manner. You are one of my most "memorable" students.

~ Mrs. L

---------------

Footnotes:

1. All of which made no sense in the overall scheme of things because a few months later, I read a brief article in the newspaper (the Orange County Register), with the headline "Sailor Jumps Ship in Japan" -- about two column inches worth of text -- stating that one Mike W. from Anaheim, California, along with a fellow seaman, jumped ship in Japan and was currently AWOL. After that, I never heard, or read, anything further about Mike W. -- so Mike, if you're out there reading this, post a comment, will you?

Notes:

I'm choosing to keep the name of my high school confidential as well. But if you do your homework, you can figure it out: Singer/songwriter Tim Buckley (who passed away in 1975) graduated from my high school, as did the co-writer on most of his songs, Larry Beckett; they were, in fact, classmates. Singer Gwen Stefani (with the band No Doubt, and currently a judge on The Voice) graduated from my high school as well. And lastly, bassist Jim Fielder also graduated from my high school. Jim played with the original Blood, Sweat & Tears; he also did stints with the Buffalo Springfield and the Mothers of Invention.

Speaking of which, the background music while I'm writing this post is Frank Zappa's You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore 12-CD box set (literally, a wooden box!).  Never could get enough of the song "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama."

Dear Indie Author Community:

An open letter from author J. M. Gregoire to all indie authors.
A must read.

Dear Indie Author Community,

Something bad is happening in the Indie Author Community. Several bad things, in fact, and if something isn't said to you, you're going to ruin your writing career before it ever gets started. What is about to follow in this letter is not an "I know everything" bomb. This letter is to serve as what should be common sense for all of us. All of this I have learned through experience as a jaded reader, a disappointed fangirl, a pissed off book blogger, a screwed over event planner, a disgusted indie author PR rep, and a fellow indie author who wants to see the community as a whole succeed. This is an Open Letter meant to try to bring the Indie Author Community back to respectable place where we can all be taken seriously.

There are a good many indies out there I no longer have respect for. Now, to understand the gravity of that statement, you must understand this: I absolutely love indie authors. I love the basic idea — you can tell your story without the media or some suit telling you what to write and when to write it. The "we don't need them" mentality is one of the factors that kept me from even considering publishing years ago. When the self-publishing boom hit, I thought it was a fantastic idea! Take out the middle man and bring stories down to what it really should be — a relationship between the storyteller and their audience.

All of that being said, I have become all those things I have listed up above. A jaded reader because the market is being flooded with books that are not ready to be published. A disappointed fangirl because of all the authors that feel just because they're published, they are somehow above everyone else...and treat them as such. A pissed off book blogger because once upon a time, writing reviews was FUN and now if I don't like a book, I can't just SAY SO (even POLITELY, mind you) without running the chance of having the author flat-out attack me and drag my name and the name of my book blog through every mud puddle they can find. A disgusted indie author PR rep because I keep watching indies spit in the face of the people who are the very reason they exist. A screwed over event planner because there are so many authors out there booking themselves for events and then not following through on their commitments. An indie author who is just sick of seeing her community drown itself....

If you've gotten this far, you need to read the entire open letter on J. M.'s blog.

Edit Ruthlessly....

(via @thecreativepenn)

Writing 101: Self-Editing Notes and Resources

This weekend (November 2-4) I will be participating in the first Convolution convention, to be held at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport Hotel in Burlingame, California. So if you just happen to be in the neighborhood, please do stop by and join the festivities.

I am moderating a panel on "Self-Editing" at 6:00 PM on Saturday (tomorrow) in the Sandpebble-A room. While reviewing notes, online resources, etc. in preparation for this panel discussion --

I decided to write down these notes and links and such here, on More Red Ink, as a way of gathering my thoughts, and providing a virtual resource to the panel attendees. This way I can simply point the audience to this blog post and not have to worry about spelling out web links, names, and such during the actual panel discussion.

So, let me begin by saying that what follows are strictly notes, quotes, links, bullet points, etc. No fancy paragraphs and flow; these are literally reference notes for the panel discussion. However, if you are a writer, then by definition you are a self-editor, and you may find some of what follows of interest in your pursuit of perfection and publication.

* * * * * * * * * *

Recommendation:

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print by Renni Browne and Dave King (William Morrow Paperbacks).

Update: 11/05/2012.
As I was gathering my notes for the panel, I realized I neglected to include one of the best writing books ever:
On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King (Scribner).

I know writers who reread this book once every six months or so, just to be inspired once again.


References:

Alan Cooper's List of Homonyms: words that have the same sound and often the same spelling but differ in meaning; a wonderful list of homonyms, but the list is old (1997) -- though words don't really change, do they.


Eclectics.com: "Self-Editing" by Lori Handeland.

Self editing is a very important aspect of re-writing. It is the last thing a writer does before sending the manuscript off to their agent or an editor. I look at self-editing as a final housecleaning chore. Not a lot of fun in itself, but don't you feel good when you're done?

I always do a final edit with a hard copy. There are so many things you won't see by reading your manuscript off a computer screen--beside the problem of going blind from reading an entire book that way. The printed word needs to be read, as it was meant to be read, on paper, so you can see the mistakes--and hear any with your inner ear. There is a flow that comes with a well written, well rewritten, well edited manuscript that you can hear when you read it. You must also be able to see your work as an editor or agent will see it. Too much introspection or narrative all in a row with no breaks for dialogue or adequate paragraphing makes a reader skip ahead for some excitement. Sometimes you don't notice this until you read your hard copy in the self-editing stage.

1. Are you telling instead of showing?
2. Are you establishing your character gradually and unobtrusively?
3. Is your point of view consistent?
4. Are your dialogue mechanics sophisticated? (reflect adequate knowledge of proper writing technique)
5 Have you checked for breaks?
6. Have you checked for unintentional repetition?
7. Have you checked for sophistication throughout the novel?
8. Have you checked your general mechanics?

Each bullet point has excellent content with examples.