Working With Editors – Pt 1

Failure. It’s an ugly word, isn’t it? Though editors and authors don’t even speak the word, most of us wrestle with it internally. Amid the rejection letters from publishers, agents, and the constant editing, confidence can get pretty worn down.

Do you know how WD-40® got its name? 39 incidents of failure before the 40^th perfected attempt of a Water Displacement compound, which protected the outer skin of the 1953 Atlas Missile from rust and corrosion. Thus, the name: Water Displacement + 40^th try = WD-40®.

I’m only on my third try with Potiphar’s Wife, but I’ve had to battle that word failure. One week ago today, I “clicked send” on the second draft, but it was the third time I’d written the full story, start-to-finish, of Joseph’s early slave years in Egypt and the intriguing relationship with his master’s wife.

First Draft

I completed my rough draft in mid-January and submitted it to three carefully chosen beta readers–all “non-professional” editors (nice phrase for unpaid).

Carol Ashby is a fellow biblical fiction indie author (well-done, self-published). I respect her eye for research, and she always catches me on little historical details I might have missed or descriptions that need more explanation.

Tracy Jones is a romantic comedy author—also indie published—and though our genres are very different, her general understanding of overall plot, characters, and pacing are equal to many of the professional editors I’ve worked with. Her substantive edits are remarkable.

Meg Wilson is a non-fiction author who has been my critique partner since 2007. We’ve walked the publishing journey together, and she gives me “gut” reactions to the story’s flow. Because she’s a “visual” reader and imagines the story as a movie in her mind, she tells me where the movie cuts out, which means something in that section needs fixing!

When my three betas returned their feedback in early February, they phrased their suggestions so kindly. However, in the interest of time and word count, I’ll cut to the chase and give you my harsh interpretation.

Three Main Issues:

1. Unlikable main character
2. Joseph wasn’t prominent enough
3. Story threads were too disjointed to follow

It can feel like failure when we receive editors’ critique after we’ve sweated over a manuscript for weeks, months—even years. We work hard to find the right words, plot twists, and research nuggets!

Sometimes my chest literally aches when I need to cut a whole chapter of my lovely words; however, I may not need to accept all my editors’ suggestions. How do I decide which suggested edits I accept or reject?

Two helpful questions when accepting/rejecting “non-professional” edits:

1. Is the beta/critique partner familiar enough with my writing style that his/her suggested changes would improve the story but maintain my voice?
2. Am I familiar enough with the beta/critique partner to know his/her specific strength in editing?

As I mentioned above, my beta readers were chosen for their specialties. I don’t expect Tracy to know that camels were not indigenous to 18^th-century BC Egypt, but Carol would likely know it. I don’t expect Meg to be an Old Testament scholar; in fact, she’s my guinea pig to read those obscure Old Testament characters and stories and tell me if future readers will understand my descriptions and world building.

Because I trust the specific talents and judgment of my beta readers, I cut 30k (Yep, that’s thirty-thousand words) on my rough draft before sending the first draft to my executive editor.

1st Draft Meets 2nd

My new executive editor at WaterBrook & Multnomah Fiction, is an experienced, insightful, and incredibly encouraging editor who has worked with several best-selling authors. Potiphar’s Wife (PW) is my first project with this editor and the first of MY work she’s read.

She and I met face-to-face only once at an awards banquet in 2019. We’ve talked several times on the phone and Zoom’d after signing my contract in early 2020. We even hashed out a couple of plot elements before I emailed that first draft on April 1st, which meant she knew the basic plot line of the story. I thought I’d sent a biblically accurate manuscript with historically based twists and enough creative fiction to capture her imagination.

Uhmmm-no.

Again, in the interest of time and word count, I’ll give the unadorned gist of the edits—though her feedback was MUCH kinder and graciously given.

A Professional Editor’s Paraphrased Opinion:

1. Characters’ emotional journeys = mosquito flight pattern
2. Female characters seem to be maneaters (cue Hall & Oates’ 1982 hit song, Maneater)
3. Enough violence and sex to give 21^st century Christians nightmares

She reminded me throughout a 21-page, single-spaced editorial letter and over 500 comments on my 400+-page manuscript that this was MY book, and her comments were only suggested changes. But because her suggestions were so extensive, I asked for a phone chat.

Her suggested changes were very discerning. We clarified character motivation, lopped off the last 1/3 of the book to tighten the timeline so I could go deeper into each character’s emotional journey. Then, in less than seven weeks, I rewrote the story for the third time and submitted a second draft (420+ pages) with 380+ pages of new material.

In The Waiting…

It. Is. Finished. Jesus said those words on the Cross. His death provided the perfect sacrifice, paying the debt for every sin—past, present, and future—of anyone who believed.

I’ve said, “It is finished,” three times on Potiphar’s Wife—a manuscript without any eternal impact—so far. It’s the most difficult story I’ve written to date. Any guesses on the second hardest edit? Isaiah’s Daughter. Yep, my lone Christy Award winner was up to now the most difficult edit of my life but also the story I get the most positive feedback on. Not just, “It’s a nice story,” but comments about faith-building heart changes. My prayer is that Potiphar’s Wife will be honed into an equally impactful story. All this work would then be worth a WD-40 kind of fortitude!

Jesus was the only perfect Human, so why should authors get cranky when someone suggests a way to improve our words? The answer is: WE SHOULDN’T!

So, what did my editor think of PW’s second draft? Dunno. I’ll likely let my “newsies” know when she returns line edits sometime this month (CLICK HERE to subscribe to my newsletter). Yep, I’ll do THREE more rounds of edits (hopefully, no more rewrites!) before this manuscript goes to print: line edits, copy edits, and proofs (galleys).

I’ve learned many important lessons after publishing twelve novels and now, writing #13 three times. Here’s one of the most important:

Editing NEVER ends!

I can pull any of my published books off the shelf and find something to reword or hone within the first five pages.

Come Back Next Month

In next month’s blog, I’ll continue the two-part series on Working With Editors, to share how I hope to avoid these tough rewrites in the future. Life’s too short to spend almost seven weeks in a writing cave!

Today’s Questions:

Please feel free to add your questions or comments below. (Remember to be kind and please don’t use names when sharing a specific experience.)

• How do you decide what edits to make when given suggestions from critique partners, beta readers, or professional editors?
• Do you have questions about my editing process?

Tweet-Ables:

• Discover important questions to ask before making suggested changes to your book manuscript from non-professional critique partners or beta readers.
• Find out how @MesuAndrews chose her rough draft #betareaders
• Jesus was the only perfect Human and the only One who can ever truly say, IT IS FINISHED. #Editing NEVER ends!