While
editing and vetting a novel, I quickly realized that the writer had an
Army general shooting snipers. It was her business, of course, but a
general would never get in that situation. A colonel? Maybe, but not
likely. A major? Possibly. The lower the rank, the more plausible this
would be.
She laughed. She already
knew
that a general would never be caught with a rifle shooting snipers. She
hoped that no one would catch it. If I caught it, she said, someone
else would; so she turned the general into a major. The story
immediately became more believable. Not a lot, but some. A gunny
sergeant would make sense.
One of her characters was a
double agent, and she'd use a real name part of the time and her code
name at other times. I found it confusing, and I told her so. Hey, this
wasn't James Bond one time and 007 another. This was Jade (or whatever)
one time and Jasmine (or whatever) another.
In
another book, this one about ancient Egypt, she had a character whose
name didn't seem to fit the time and place. She thought that name might
have been used at that time and place, but she changed it. I think the
story became a little more plausible.
While editing another book, I noticed that the writer wrote Phillipians when he meant Philippines. Slight difference.
I do a lot of grunt work, whether it's in fiction or non-fiction books,
letters, web sites, term papers or whatever. I look for parallel
construction, changes of tense, tangled sentences. If I find a 50-word
sentence, I'll look for ways to convert it to a least two or more
sentences.
I check for redundancies or words left out (or reversed). I
look for the simplest way to say something. And I check as
many facts as I can.
I ask questions: Does the writer
need this long, detailed explanation? Can we say this in 50 or 100 fewer
words? Is this sentence clear? Is the writer just saying the same thing
over and over?
Even in the doctoral dissertation, I
found ways to combine redundant sentences to make it simpler and easier
to read. I even broke up a few long sentences and paragraphs for his
professor's benefit.
When I edit, I think, is this
comma necessary? Should it be a semicolon or a dash? Would this sentence
be better with a comma? Is the writer using too many exclamation and
question marks? The decisions are
almost instantaneous (I've been doing this 30-plus years).
The
novelist mentioned above had trouble with punctuation. She'd have a
quote with a question or exclamation mark AND a comma -- "We never eat
out anymore. Why is that?," Martha asked. She didn't need the comma.
I've
been pleased with her improvement. I find fewer typos and outright
mistakes. Her copy's cleaner and easier to read. She's getting better by
the chapter.
I once was "Americanizing" British non-fiction books for sale in North America. I
changed "favour" to "favor," "maximise" to "maximize," and "behaviour"
to "behavior." "Loo" became "toilet"; "solicitor" turned into "lawyer",
and "lift" became "elevator." With the help of Google, British slang was
translated, and when I could, I changed soccer analogies to baseball,
basketball or American football. It works better for U.S. readers.
I did more than that, of course, but you get a flavour, no, flavor of what I did in this case.
I
remind the writer to proofread and edit his/her work a few
minutes and a few days later, time permitting. I tell writers to get a second or third pair of eyes on their work; don't trust Aunt Jane
or Uncle Bernie. A professional editor can make your writing sparkle and
make you look good.
It's all part of editing. Some
writing is so muddled that I need a Rosetta stone. Other times, I don't
have much to do. Whether I'm editing a book or working for a newspaper
(I've worked at nine), my job is to help the writer and the reader. I
work to make the writer's writing shine. My editing will help the reader assimilate the most information in the easiest manner.
I may cost a little more than some copy editors (and less than many others), but I'm worth it. And your writing's worth it, too.
Contact: I can be reached at tgilli@copydesk.org or tgilli52@gmail.com.
More editing/writing blog entries
Blog entries on The Auto Racing Journal:
(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)
(the book of great NASCAR stories)
More blog entries by Tom Gillispie
Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie
