Confessions of a Non Editor
Confession: I only read through Diamonds in Auschwitz once before sending it off to agents and
then publishers. And that read-through included no major edits except changing the order of
my first two chapters.
I don’t say that to brag. I say that to demonstrate how truly ignorant I was in regards to the
process of writing/preparing a novel for publication.
Actually, I wasn’t ignorant of the fact that I my manuscript needed edits. I was painfully aware it
was not a perfect story. But I knew that I didn’t know enough to know what to edit. (Whew.
That was a lot of knew/knows in one sentence! I probably should edit that…)
I said it over and over (especially to my agent): “It needs major work. But I don’t know where or
what.”
I was right.
Having just finished the developmental editing phase of publication, I can say without a doubt: I
was right. Diamonds in Auschwitz needed major work. And I didn’t really have a clue where to
start.
Enter: My Editor.
Btw, my editor is fabulous. She “trimmed” (what a nicer phrase than “savagely cut with a
butcher knife”) all the places where my POV was inconsistent or I got carried away with a
convoluted metaphor or I simply was talking too much and not showing enough. About the
time that I was considering a new life’s ambition, she would make a comment like: “You did
terrific with this dialogue” or “This is a strong metaphor” or “The way you close this chapter is
quite beautiful.” Happy sigh. Maybe I can do this after all.
Besides the considerable amount of “trimming” needed, I was finally given a little direction on
major edits. And I loved it!
After my fabulous editor went through the first half of my manuscript, making small changes
and making suggestions to me to make bigger ones, she sat back and let me tackle the second
half of the manuscript on my own. It would certainly be more natural if I could find the problem
areas on my own, rather than have her point them out to me.
I felt like that robot that Syndrome created in The Incredibles! Show me once and I can learn!
The Editor threw a boulder at me, and I learned to catch it and throw it right back. Maybe I’m
stretching that metaphor a little too far… (Ah! See! Something I learned from The Editor!)
Other things I learned:
1. I used a close third person point of view. By dropping the overuse of my character’s
proper name, I could bring the POV even closer. Easy, but very effective.
2. Follow-up to POV issues… I jump POV between four characters, and each has a very
specific voice. The Editor was great at pointing out when my character’s voice was
actually Meg’s voice. No one wants to hear me!
3. Cut. Cut. Cut. I can definitely get too wordy. Sometimes I like to beat the reader over the
head with my descriptions. Less is more.
4. Why tell the reader about a conversation when I can show it? Going through my
manuscript, I glazed over a lot of scenes that could have been dialogue. Spoiler alert: the
final draft now has those scenes as dialogue AND action.
For me, the developmental editing experience was not just essential to get Diamonds in
Auschwitz ready for true book form, but it was an amazing lesson. For my next manuscript, if I
fail to go through and do proper big edits, it’s because I’m lazy, not ignorant!
