Not all great hits in the world of publishing and storytelling start off with a bang. In fact, many well-known authors had ideas upon ideas for their stories, characters, and voices that were scrapped before their final drafts were produced—final drafts that might be surprising in comparison to the original ideas from which they developed.
Editing
Creating Productive Routines
By Marina GarciaWe’re often faced with the following questions: How do I get it all done? How do I make myself write? In that vein, I’ve compiled a few tips for creating or maintaining productive routines to better face the trials of working in publishing.
Odsburg: A Community Collaboration
By Marina Garcia
From the beginning, the goal for Odsburg was to make this book unique, successful, and as beautifully odd as the story it contained. We all had similar ideas about where this book should end up; getting there, however, was an entirely different matter.
Going All the Way: The Challenges of Editing Sex Scenes
By Olivia Rollins
The Bad Sex in Fiction Award teaches us several things: first, many novels contain profoundly cringeworthy sex scenes; second, even great writers often flounder when they try to write about sex; and finally, there are plenty of editors who (perhaps begrudgingly, or perhaps because they too are at a loss for how to approach this subject) are letting these giggle-inducing scenes sneak through to publication. This state of affairs might lead us to wonder, Why is it so hard to write about sex? And, more importantly, what can editors do to help?
The Merits of Hand Marking in the Modern Era
By Andre Cole
Is it really that surprising that our generation is cynical about any analogue workflows when we’ve seen several outmoded in our lifetimes? Unfortunately, it is that exact disillusionment that causes some genuinely useful pre-Y2K skills to be overlooked. Case in point: hand-marked editing.
Editing and Authorial Voice
By Julianne Pearson
Everyone has different ways of understanding the world around them, and in order to draw that out for a keen audience, it is necessary for an editor to make all those red lines and to work with the writer to help them dig out their own unique voice.