Book View Cafe Editor Interview

Over at Book View Cafe blog, Katharine Eliska Kimbriel interview me "with my editor hat on."





When did you become interested in editing other writers’ work as opposed to concentrating on writing?




I first started thinking about editing during the years when I’d
visit Marion Zimmer Bradley on a regular basis. I helped read slush for
her magazine (MZB’s Fantasy Magazine) and
we’d talk. I got a “behind the scenes” look at what she looked for and
why, and how she handled rejection letters. She taught me that the work
of an editor isn’t mysterious, in part because her own tastes were so
definite. A story could be perfectly good but not suit the anthology or
magazine she was reading for, or might do both but not “catch fire” for
her. I learned about “no fault” rejections (and I’ve received them
myself, for example if the editor had just bought a story on the same
theme by a Big Name Author) and that sometimes if an editor thought the
story had merit but didn’t fulfill its promise, she could comment on its
shortcomings or issue an invitation to re-submit after revision. I
thought, “I can do this!” I’d had so many experiences from the Author
side of the desk, I approached editing with a set of wild hopes and
convictions.




What are the special challenges of editing in a shared world as opposed to a theme anthology?






I think the crucial thing is a solid idea about how rigid (or
conversely how flexible) the structure is. The more rigid, the deeper
into the slush pile you’re going to have to dig (assuming it’s open
submission) or the more you’re going to risk throttling the creative
vision of your writers. So you need to be clear about what’s essential.
For example, if I were editing a Star Wars anthology and a writer
submitted a story that was essentially a bodice-ripper, no matter how
excellently done, I’d have to turn it down. That’s too great a violation
of the parameters. Just as with an individually-authored work, you’re
making a contract with your reader. Put your imagination in my/our hands
and this is the kind of experience you’ll have. (Not that there
won’t be surprises; good writing abounds in unexpected twists and
conventions-turned-upside-down.)



On the other hand, many shared worlds
offer latitude for “alternate versions,” especially when told from the
point of view of a not-entirely-reliable narrator. For myself, I would
rather see a story that bends the rules a little but does so in the
service of the clarity and passion of the author’s vision, than a
lifeless one that conforms strictly, one that follows the letter but not
the spirit of the guidelines. I suspect Marion influenced me in this
because she herself never let previously-established details get in the
way of a really good story.



Read more here.