Today, I have a guest coming by. Carrie Bailey, an editor with Peevish Penman talks about working with writers, particularly for The Handbook of The Writer Secret Society.
The most common misconception I encounter as a content editor is that some people assume I have a talent for editing. It’s not true. Fortunately, the writers I work with are not prey to that delusion. They know I can’t see my own tpyos and generally accept me as I am. And that’s the foundation of a healthy working relationship: accepting each other’s limitations. I know myne.
As the editor of The Handbook of the Writer Secret Society, I am the person who determines the final content of the publication. Decent writing skills certainly help me achieve that objective, but they aren’t vital and a few people would say I don’t need them at all…just strong coffee and a sense of humor.
Another interesting misconception I encounter is that as an editor, I must be preoccupied with judging writers’ work and harshly so. However, before I was an editor, I wrote for a number of publications and every mistake I encounter only reminds of a worse one of my own. However, I do take responsibility for the final publication and the process of editing requires endless evaluation, re-evaluation and better communication skills than someone found next to a dead body with bloody knife in their hands. Truly, the margin of error is slim when you have to convey a vague concept to distinct personalities from a variety of backgrounds. To produce The Handbook of the Writer Secret Society, I had to effectively communicate about the project with a dozen or so writers from three continents.
Writers have a talent for invention unparalleled in any other profession other than acting and maybe that of the con artist. And they aren’t always as they present themselves. The massive egos spewing tidal waves of confidence often hide writers who fear their own lack of accomplishment. And the proudly innovative authors sometimes run in the most conformist of cliques.
As an editor, I am concerned with communication between these complicated people we call writers. No one said it was easy to help a dozen creative visionaries all work on the same vision. In fact, it’s a lot like choreographing a dance routine with a bear, a giraffe, an ant, and a tablespoon.
For that reason, I chose to solicit modest writers to help me produce The Handbook of the Writer Secret Society. I choose to work with people who were a delight to joke with, most of whom I’d met through twitter, and as I suspected, each writer produced distinctly excellent work.
L had probably the most difficult task of the writers, because her guidelines were the least defined. As the only order of our fictional society described in the handbook, L let her imagination construct the framework of group nearly as defined as the society itself.
Nothing is harder than recommending a reduction in creativity, but that was what I needed to with L’s section to keep the flow of the entire publication. I did not want her strong contribution to lead the book onto a tangent that might overpower the remainder of the message.
Fortunately, L is a writer who can give and take through the creative process. The end result was ideal. And though we cut 50% of her work, she still offered her talents and support in each stage of producing the book. She’s the perfect example of a writer every editor would want to work with.
I first met Andy on twitter when he offered to be my online butler. Having a rapport with a writer sets the foundation for effortless collaboration and Andy contributed the medieval styled prose, which is his unique talent. If anything, his work exceeded my expectations though I knew what I would get when I first approached him.
The same was true of JJ, whose blog I had followed for some time. I was already aware of her commitment to education and ability to relate detail to larger systems. She is a born educator and I knew her contribution would be intelligent, insightful, and that I would learn something from what she wrote.
Known writers are the easiest for editors to work with. It may seem unfair at first to new writers without contacts who feel they aren’t getting an opportunity when they write quality work. However, most writers have something to offer and once they do establish ongoing relationships with other professionals, they will appreciate the connections they’ve made.
Clark had written a post for a blogfest I held on my site Peevish Penman. As a stand-up comedian, his writing delivered something out of the ordinary. He was direct, peculiar, and endlessly entertaining.
Sometimes when a writer has a different angle on a subject that a group of writers are producing together, their contribution disrupts the flow of communication. The readers have to invest a little extra time to understand it and process the new perspective.
However, Clark’s originality was not unfamiliar to anyone who has seen cable TV or visited a comedy club. He applied a skill from another form of entertainment in this case his stand up comedy and the result is refreshing. Yep, it’s all about the transferable skills…
Tony completely rewrote his contribution, “The Moderate Objective of the Writer Secret Society” and “The Less Moderate Objective of the Writer Secret Society” at his own suggestion. For the handbook, Tony had been in the right place at the right time. One day, I randomly submitted a tweet on Twitter for someone who had a few extra minutes to “do a favor.” He had had two excellent ideas and being one of those rare and talented writers, destined to be on shows such as Ellen, he was able to quickly churn out precisely the absurdity I was hoping I would find.
Winonah Drake
As copy editor, Winonah finds the typos and perfects the work submitted to The Handbook of the Writer Secret Society as well as Peevish Penman. Having Winonah working as a copy editor allows me to focus my time and effort on organizing the content of the publications. 
I do understand the disruption that poor grammar and punctuation cause readers who are inclined to be offended by human error. I sympathize. I feel the same way about poorly brewed coffee. It’s an outrage. In writing, there must be accuracy in communication with readers as well as between writers and I grateful that Winonah enjoys this part of editing.
I’ve been contacted already by a number of writers about contributions for the second edition of the handbook, which will be available in paperback as well as an ebook. Having been a reader, a writer and an editor, I have to say greatest of the three is still the reader. While editors and writers can work together to produce some amazing work, I always remember this quote from Ursula K. LeGuin:
The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp. The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story.
I think the best writers understand that. They understand that the entire process is about communication and that everyone plays an important and valuable part.
This article was in response to a post I recently had about working with editors.
