The Next Level

These days I am waist deep in editing the stories for my fiction collection, Fatted Calf Blues, which will be published by Turnstone Press in 2009. I had heard that this could be a seemingly endless process. I have also been told that some editors have a knack for helping you take your manuscript to another level. I'd have to say that both of these statements are true in my current experience. My editor at Turnstone is Wayne Tefs, who has written a number of books himself. I don't know how common that is in publishing houses, to have a published author as an editor. Possibly it is more common in the smaller independent presses. But so far it is working out for me. 

Wayne's initial notes to me were marginal and had mostly to do with verbal tics, which are words or phrases that keep cropping up in my writing. Most writers have verbal tics of some sort. For example, I tend to often use the words "just" and "practically." I use them just in the normal course of writing, as I would when speaking, practically  without thinking about it. The process of weeding these out of my prose can be tedious, but having to scrutinize my work in so menial a fashion allowed me to discover other verbal tics that Wayne had not mentioned. It also gave me the opportunity to reassess and address story problems. I was surprised by how many changes I made through my own observations. The result is a new-found confidence in myself as a writer.  

But this whole editorial process is far from over.  Right now I'm taking a break from round 2. When I am done with Wayne, I will be working with Sharon Caseburg in copy editing, which deals with style and the look of the text. For instance, I tend to use North American spelling such as "organize" instead of "organise", which is the British spelling. But Turnstone's style is to use British spelling, so I will be combing the stories once more to rectify that problem.  During this whole process I have been using the tracking device in Microsoft Word, which I had no idea about before. Sharon has been very helpful (and patient) in explaining how to use it. Now that I have the hang of it I can see how it can benefit the early stages of working on a story. 

By the way, Sharon is also a poet. I believe everyone involved with running Turnstone are also writers. One thing she asked me to think about is questions for book clubs. I had no idea what she was talking about, since I have never belonged to a book club. But she showed me examples on the Turnstone web site. Basically they are questions used to incite discussions. Apparently having questions by the author is helpful when selling packages of a book to libraries or schools. I was stymied at first, but once I started thinking up one question I couldn't stop and ended up staying up all one night. The interesting thing about coming up with these questions is it makes you look at your work differently. You have to think about it more objectively, as if it is somebody else's work. And then you begin to see patterns emerge regarding themes, settings, characters, etc. I found it most illuminating.     

I'm happy to say that everyone at Turnstone Press, not only Wayne and Sharon, but Managing Editor, Todd Besant, and Associate Publisher, Jamis Paulson, have been encouraging and supportive. It's been a terrific experience so far.