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The Importance of an Editor
I just returned from a meeting with my editor, Dolores, in Los Angeles about Thicker Than Blood, and it went really well. We walked on the boardwalk in Venice and talked about the book. We had lunch and talked about the book. We had dinner with friends and talked about the book. It got me thinking about how important my relationship is with her, and why I think it’s so vital to writers to have an editor they trust.
Dolores and I met through a very close mutual friend. She had already had two books published (they’re really campy!). I sent her part of my book, and she edited it so well that I knew we would make a great team. I had an editor before who just let me write anything, so it wasn’t a good fit. Whereas Dolores came in and helped me build a story by moving scenes and getting things in order instead of me being all over the map.
I can write, and I can write, and I can write. I’ve got the metaphors down, the description down, the characters down, the dialogue down, but I’m not very good with an outline. It’s really a pain point with me. Dolores makes me think about scenes differently and suggests moving them around to better tell the story. For example, I just wrote the prologue for Thicker Than Blood, which is a murder scene, and sent it to her. She sent it back with some great comments to help me focus on the beginning and the ending to make sure I was structuring it properly. She is currently working on an outline for me for Thicker Than Blood so I can guide my scenes into a structure for the first full draft. And then we’ll get together and change it (or not!), depending on how I see the book.
Sometimes it’s other writing issues that I seek her guidance on. I try to keep my characters really well drawn, for instance, but right now, at 150 pages, I still have people coming and going, and I’m trying to figure out how to get it all together. Dolores can help me with that—she’s good with all aspects of editing.
I don’t speak with her on a daily basis, but I know she’s just a call or email away if I need advice or help overcoming a short bout of writer’s block. I mentioned in a previous blog that when I struggled with my writer’s block a few months ago, I had written a few lackluster scenes. And when I handed them off to her I said, “These scenes don’t need to be edited. They need to be redone.” There was major work to be done. Because she worked on Under a Cloud of Rain with me, she knows my writing so well that she can almost think of scenes for me to write.
Every writer should have an editor. I can’t image how someone could write a book without an editor they trust. It’s a very intimate relationship because you’re exposing parts of yourself, even if, as in my case, it’s a not-so-warm-and-cozy murder mystery. With an editor I trust I can be more creative, because I have someone who is with me on the same page and can see when my work is dragging.
At our last meeting, I turned over 150 pages to Dolores. Some of them were good and some of them were not good. But the meeting helped me transition into the process of editing and structuring the new novel so I can meet my October deadline and have a final 350-pager ready!
Next up, a trip to New Orleans!
