Justine Larbalestier

reading, writing, eating, drinking, sport

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Writerly naughtiness

Meg Cabot hates rewriting. In her rant against it she mentions that

the first time I got a copy-edited manuscript back, I was so offended by anyone second-guessing all my research (this was in the days before everyone had the Internet, and I had done all of it in the library), I ripped all the Post-It notes off and threw them away and just sent the manuscript back without addressing any of them. And no one said anything about it!

That’s, like, the naughtiest thing a writer could do. Well, other than being years late with a book, or stealing your editor’s car, or spouse, or, um, never mind.

I do know of one writer who totally ignored their editorial letter. They changed a few things in the first chapter—very cursory stuff—and then sent it back with a cover letter saying how helpful the ed letter was, how much they appreciated it etc. etc. The editor wrote the writer to thank them for all their hard work and the book went through to copyediting. I think that one only works if your editor is lazy or insanely overstretched. It would never work for mine. They read every single word. Over and over and over again. Bless them.

Now I’m wondering what other naughtinesses writers have gotten up to. Feel free to comment anonymously. No one here will reveal your dread secrets. Promise!

Posted by Justine at 0:04, 24 August 2007 under Bloggery, Publishing business, Writing life | 12 Comments »

Comments

  1. cherie priest Says:

    I couldn’t do that … I just couldn’t. I’m too happy to get an editorial letter or copyediting at all. When 4&20bb was first released by that micro-press, I never saw it again after I handed it in. I was asked to write a new chapter (and I did), but no one ever showed me any edits or anything. And, well, it really showed.

    So now that I have Liz, I’m just so preposterously overjoyed that someone has taken the time to read closely, react accordingly, and make appropriate changes and suggestions … that I’d never just ignore her.

    August 24th, 2007 at 12:35 am

  2. Martin Says:

    I’m with Cherie. Having only had a single book out, I’m not sure if every editor is as thorough as Sarah Endacott was with _Carnies_, but I remember going through the ms and finding a single page without a correction on it. I think I’ll frame that page, one day. :)

    Seriously, every single suggestion she gave improved the book. Once you’ve written something, you’re generally too close to it to see the flaws in it, which is where a good editor is absolutely essential. I only rejected a single suggestion she made, and that was to cut a line out that was, er, a little OTT and foul-mouthed. But I loved the line, and I fought to keep it, and it’s in the book to this day. See if you can find it, gentle readers. :)

    August 24th, 2007 at 12:43 am

  3. Patrick Says:

    I don’t know. Getting an editor’s car or spouse in trade for making the changes seems rather fair to me, but that could be because I am not an editor.

    August 24th, 2007 at 8:05 am

  4. Karen Says:

    my problem with my editorial letter was that, well, … she was right. so I felt rather compelled to follow her advice. *sigh*

    August 24th, 2007 at 11:57 am

  5. Rebecca Says:

    i know people who have done that with essays. (usually b/c of procrastinationitis. which isn’t quite the same, really.)

    not me. i would never do such a thing.

    August 25th, 2007 at 1:51 am

  6. 6. Justine Says:

    Everyone is lame and boring. Where are the wicked anonymous confessions?

    Rebecca: I totally did stuff like that in high school. I remember doing all this work on an art assignment and running out of time (because I’d left it to the last minute) so I handed it in with the last page ending mid sentence. The teacher apologised to me profusely for losing the page I never gave her and I got a great mark.

    In high school and university the quality of my work only meant something to me in terms of what mark it would get me so I would try to game the system when it was necessary (mostly for extensions).

    But writing books is totally different. The only one who’s affected by my work being late or not as good as it could be—is me. It’s my career I’m affecting. So I work hard to make sure my books are as good as they can be. Without my editors my books would suck.

    Oh noes! I am boring like youse lot!

    August 25th, 2007 at 9:35 am

  7. Rebecca Says:

    writing books is fun. school….wells, it doesn’t all suck, but the ratio of suckage to non-suckage seems to be considerably higher when in class. which is probably why i spend many a class trying to figure out plot holes or some such.

    i could make up a wicked anonymous confession for you. or i could anonymously confess to academic writing-related wickedness. mwahahaha!

    August 25th, 2007 at 11:26 am

  8. Jeannie Hamburger Says:

    wow, you guys really are a bunch of pollyannas.

    doesn’t anyone out there have an editor who is an idiot? TRUST ME THEY EXIST. the kind of editor who ADDS three or four needless adverbs into every sentence just for the sake of putting his or her own stink on the book. personally, i would have preferred it if my own editor had just PEED on the manuscript.

    i would have tried some underhanded way of rectifying the situation but i was too busy trying to KILL MYSELF. oh well!

    glad to see that everyone else lives on the good ship lollipop though. HAVE FUN BEING PERFECT!

    August 25th, 2007 at 6:04 pm

  9. 9. Justine Says:

    Jeannie Hamburger: That’s the spirit!

    And, yeah, it’s all about what kind of editor you get. I’ve been fortunate. But I know some horror stories.

    Such as the editor who went through changing all the similes. Like a character trying to get someone recalcitrant to do something was described as “trying to herd cats” so the editor changed that to “herding sheep” because obviously you can’t herd cats.

    Another friend had the copyeditor change almost every “said” to “questioned” or “retorted” or “cried” or “averred” because everyone knows that having “said” used more than once is boring.

    I’ve also heard of the director of the imprint decide they need to put their oar in by, say, changing the names of all the characters with only the lamest reasons given for the changes.

    August 25th, 2007 at 6:18 pm

  10. A koppy edditter Says:

    Well, there are copy editors who are idiots, too, though, with a few exceptions, they don’t last long at any one house. Usually a c.e.’s incompetence, such as it may be, consists of sins of omission rather than of commission, but every now and then one will take it upon him- or herself to get “creative” or to change a few of the author’s perfectly proper usages that violate some bugaboo of the c.e.’s.

    This is relatively rare, but it happens, and I am at times called upon to fix it.

    More often, the copy ed. will do a fantastic job o taking the author’s rambling, inconsistent, ungrammatical prose (which may contain the kernel of a fantastic book) and polish it so it shines. And here’s where we separate the pros from the cranks. The pros will look it over and say, “Great! Thanks so much, while the cranks will react furiously and even scrawl “DON’T CHANGE MY @#$% COMMAS!!!” in the margin.

    So depending on the circumstances, the author may be justified or not in viewing the whole situation with frustration.

    August 26th, 2007 at 12:10 am

  11. Jeannie Hamburger Says:

    j, my editor (not copy editor– if the book was ever copy edited, i was not included in the process) committed every one of the editorial crimes you mention, including changing the names of characters for no reason whatsoever, without bothering to tell me. so excuse me if i vomit while the rest of you are carefully stowing your precious ed letters away in your hope chests, brushing your editors’ hair, etc.

    – Jeannie Hamburger

    August 26th, 2007 at 3:54 pm

  12. Carbonel Says:

    Okay: I put in a completely fangirlish reference in what was, basically a textbook. So when I got my MS back, my editrix had crossed it out noting that it really didn’t make any sense.

    And she was right! It didn’t!

    But I crossed out her (perfectly justified cross-out) and wrote “stet” (because I have always longed to do that, but I am not and will never be ballsy enough to add “damnit”) and it got through!

    And it’s still there, and fills me with a mild glee whenever something (like your post) reminds me of it.

    August 31st, 2007 at 3:21 am

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