When Your Editor Slaps You Upside the Head

Whoo, doggie! I'm on a wild ride.

I'm in the process of reaching out and getting book blurbs from authors I greatly admire and who inspire me with their accomplishments. It's anxiety provoking because I'm forcing myself to reach beyond my comfort zone. I'm human. Maybe it's an author thing, a creative-person-angst-thing or a woman thing. Or maybe I'm triple cursed by feeling all three, but I'm keenly aware of all of that isn't perfect.

I was at a reading last night for an author who expressed the same sentiment. Myfanwy Collins read from her beautiful novel, The Book of Laney . Afterwards, she commented she couldn't bear reading the whole work again now that it's published because of the changes she would want to make. Her reading left audience members in tears and she still felt she could edit more. I know she would agree that at a certain point in time, you just have to declare your work done and get it out there.

Feedback from writing groups or beta readers is one thing. Feedback from authors you greatly admire is another. So, when I received feedback on my book from an award winning author, I really took the message to heart. To be blunt, the author was critical of my first paragraph. Egads! If a reader doesn't like your first paragraph, what is going to make them want to read more? It's the Big Kahuna. First sentence leads to first paragraph that leads to first chapter that leads to let's-buy-this-book-and-read-the-whole-thing. Simply put, screw up early and you're screwed.

I yelped and sent the message to my editor. As a senior editor at a major publisher, she knows her stuff. I trust her. Getting barked at by the author made me question if I was doing enough. Maybe I should work the manuscript more. Maybe I've missed something.

The only thing I was missing was a good slap upside my head. This is what she said:
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(I smudged the author's ID for obvious reasons. I love and admire him/her and always will.)

Connie, 

Everyone will have an opinion. Everyone's a critic. This person wants to let you know that s/he knows more about writing than you do--and maybe that's true, but s/he isn't your audience and s/he's not invested in you. I know this because your opening scene in its totality creates loads of tension and mystery. It totally hooks the reader. S/He wants you to skip the foreplay (creation of the setting) and jump to the action. What s/he doesn't tell you, however, speaks louder to me than this one seemingly clever comment.

You've received a lot of feedback, and no one, including me, felt the opening paragraph was damaging. Why? Nobody stopped after the first paragraph and dashed off an email to you, did they? No. They didn't. Why not?
We did a boatload to rid the manuscript of its passive voice and weeks of work to unload a lot of unnecessary dead weight. This person did not read your book. Nor does s/he care about the construction of your novel if this is the only comment s/he gave you. Interesting how s/he has nothing else to say, isn't it? That's because s/he didn't read it and never intended to. One gold nugget, and s/he's out. All that glitters is not gold, my friend.
What s/he doesn't tell you (or doesn't see) is the way you construct this opening paragraph (as) a telling paragraph; it's setting the scene...  You did this intentionally to set the scene, not the action. So, besides the fact that s/he doesn't like the word "was," what other investment does s/he make? None. You may as well delete the thing. Then what? Rework the paragraphs? The entire opening scene? Then what? Keep second-guessing yourself? Or, get more opinions on it?
I get her/his point, I really do, but I'm telling you, if s/he is annoyed by the first paragraph, stops to tell you about it in detail, and offers little else, then I guarantee you that s/he was never invested in reading more than the first page of your novel. That kind of feedback has its place, but I have a three-letter word for writers who flaunt their self-righteous "wisdom counsel" like this, beginning with "a" and ending in double "s."
Be cautious of blow-and-go gold nuggets like this. They may have value, but I find them limited and destructive overall--as sincere and helpful as his/her intention may have been. You wrote an exciting, unusual story that your readers are going to devour. This isn't my genre, truth be told, and I had no problem sticking with the story. The writing is strong. Characters and plot are strong. Backstories are strong. Action, pacing, transitions, and flow are strong.
When and if you're lucky enough to get slammed by The New York Times Magazine, Connie, jump for joy and keep writing, keep writing, keep writing. What that really means is they think you are good enough to review. 

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This is why I love my editor. I cannot be all things to all people. I need to be confident that I've written another kick-ass book. Will everyone love me? Nope. But that's okay.

More on Author to Reader Marketing (A2RMarketing) can be found here.