The Editorial Report
By Juliet Marillier | April 1, 2010 |
I’m saying goodbye to my manuscript again, though not for ever. March was revision month, during which I attended to my Australian and US editors’ joint report on Seer of Sevenwaters.
This is the first time I’ve received an editorial report that seemed kinder than the ms deserved! On re-reading I found many flaws, especially in the sections I wrote while sick last year: slow pacing, repetitiveness, just plain clunky style. Add those to the points picked up by the editors, and the result was a very busy month indeed. It’s worth noting that I had revised the ms extensively before it first went off to the editors, so these were weaknesses I hadn’t been able to identify even when I thought the book was finished and polished. As I’m always telling people, time out from your ms (a few weeks at least) allows you to see it through fresh eyes.
Neither of the editors had any issue with the dual first person point of view in the novel, nor did they have a problem with one narrator using present tense and the other past tense. I wasn’t asked to make any structural changes. The edits were mostly to do with pacing and character development. Sometimes quite subtle alterations to the way a scene is written can speak reams about the relationships between the characters. I worked hard to improve the pacing, cutting some favourite scenes that dwelt on the old, well-loved Sevenwaters characters rather than developing this book’s protagonists or advancing the action. Although the novel is part of an ongoing series, it must be strong enough to stand alone as well.
My editors also identified my fondness for domestic scenes (women chatting as they sew or cook; people sitting around a table eating) and I reduced these considerably. I was surprised when an editor pointed out how many times characters felt sick or weak, looked pale or were on the point of collapse in this novel! I put it down to fellow feeling; I wrote some of those scenes while hooked up to intravenous chemo and some during the seven weeks of radiotherapy, when one feels like sleeping all the time. I cut most of those references, saving the tears, pallor and fainting for moments of high drama. I should add that a lot of the action takes place in an infirmary, but there’s no chemo, only poultices, leeches and seaweed tonic. And a good old medieval cure for kidney damage.
By the time this post goes up, my editors will be reading the revised ms. If they’re happy, the ms will go out to a copy editor to be checked for errors in grammar, punctuation, style and logic (‘The moon was full on page 296, it can’t be full again on page 343 because only ten days have passed’, that kind of thing.). It will make its way back to me in early May so I can check the copy editor’s amendments and suggestions. The plan is to get that out of the way before I travel to Queensland for my son’s wedding, since I don’t want to take a bundle of pages on the plane with me – this stage of editing gets marked up on a hard copy.
Copy edits vary. Some copy editors restrict themselves to the elements I’ve listed in the previous para. Others do what amounts to a second full edit, commenting on aspects of plot or character as well. When I find those comments insightful I’m happy to make changes, but by that stage I’m generally all edited out and never want to look at the thing again. I hope for a light copy edit. After that, there’s only the proof reading to go (twice, for the Australian and American editions in turn.).
This stuff can be pretty time consuming. Each stage has quite a tight deadline, and at the same time I’m generally trying to get on with writing a new book, or – as is the case this time around – attempting to bash a proposal into a form my publisher will be happy with. Yes, 2010 is shaping up as an exceptionally busy year, perhaps to compensate for 2009, a lot of which was spent in hospitals and clinics or lying on the couch.
Recreational reading goes out the window at such times; I’m lucky if I can get through the daily newspaper and a couple of favourite blogs. Perhaps during that wedding trip I can start catching up on some of the fantastic-looking novels I have on my ‘to be read’ stack.
Photo credit: © Nikolais | Dreamstime.com
Juliet Marillier has written twenty-four novels for adults and young adults and two collections of short fiction. Her works of historical fantasy have been published around the world and have won numerous awards. Juliet’s most recent series was Warrior Bards, of which the third and final book, A Song of Flight, was published in 2021. Her collection of reimagined fairy tales, Mother Thorn and Other Tales of Courage and Kindness, had its trade release in 2022. Mother Thorn is illustrated by Kathleen Jennings and published by Serenity Press.
Juliet is currently working on a two-book fantasy series. The first book in this duology, The Amber Owl, will be published by New Dawn in February 2025.
When not writing, Juliet looks after a small crew of rescue dogs.
Juliet,
As much as you’re probably sick and tired of all these revisions, please know that sharing your experiences is very helpful to the rest of us :)
It’s a great reminder that no book is truly ready to hit the shelves when we type ‘THE END.’
Thanks!
.-= Suzannah Windsor Freeman´s last blog ..‘Help A Reporter Out’: A Valuable Research Tool for Writers =-.
Wow. There are so many things in this post that I connected with. I’m glad you shared this. We spend so much time perfecting our work, but it’s not until someone else takes a look at it, that we truly see the errors. This gave me a chuckle:
“…and logic (‘The moon was full on page 296, it can’t be full again on page 343 because only ten days have passed’, that kind of thing.)”
I do stuff like that more often than I’d care to admit (most recent example: my MC started screaming before his breathing tube had been removed. what?). Glad I’m not alone.
Also, when you mentioned that recreational reading goes out the window, I smiled. I recently had to finish a short story for a contest (deadline is today, in fact), and haven’t had a chance to read anything but THAT story for the past month, aside from a blog here and there. And that gets to you after a while. You feel narcissistic, and like you’re out of touch with the world. Not to mention, it burns you out. After I submitted the story, I sat down and read a decent chunk of a novel (7th Son: Descent by JC Hutchins) that’s been sitting on my table, patiently waiting for me.
And now I feel balanced again. :)
.-= Lydia Sharp´s last blog ..A Random Reflection on Life in the Space Age =-.
I worked hard to improve the pacing, cutting some favourite scenes that dwelt on the old, well-loved Sevenwaters characters rather than developing this book’s protagonists or advancing the action. Although the novel is part of an ongoing series, it must be strong enough to stand alone as well.
That must be a difficult challenge — wanting to please those who’ve followed a series for years by revisiting old characters, while serving a book for itself the best you can. I can imagine editing notes varying wildly, too, depending on the editors in question. If a particular editor had been part of the journey all the way through, they might be as intrigued by those nods to novels past as long-time readers. A newer editor, not so much.
Have you considered saving those cut scenes, maybe posting them on your website?
Congrats on getting through this process with this particular book, Juliet. And enjoy that wedding!
I only wanted to drop in and virtually hug a fellow survivor. And “Heart’s Blood” is so on my to-read list.
This sounds exciting to an unpublished author. It has to be hard, but knowing that your ms will come out shining as bright as possible has to be worth all of the hard work.
I imagine the day an editor will send my ms back to me for revisions.
My father used to be my fact finder. When I first started writing my mg I was going to include a bicentennial parade. I was amazed when he said “Nope can’t do that.” He went on to explain that the location I was writing for would have not have had a bicentennial for the year I was writing in.
Every writer needs someone else to help them become the best writer that they can be.
I’m sure your ms will be super. :)
.-= Maribetth´s last blog ..Where Did Your Journey Begin? =-.
I know you don’t want to overdo it, but I have to say I loved the domestic scenes in your previous Sevenwaters novels. Some of my favorites, for example, were in Daughter of the Forest at Harrowfield where Sorcha sat with her work, and Margery or Red stayed nearby with their sewing or carving. The homey stuff has always given your narrative a grounded, realistic quality that I would miss if it were gone.
I think Therese’s idea is a good one. I bet fans would love the deleted scenes!
And thanks so much for sharing your revision process with us. It is very helpful. Sometimes, when I am tired and lazy, I will pretend for a few days that something does not need to be changed because my critique group didn’t notice it….but I know deep down, so I know I will eventually have to change it.
.-= Rebecca @ Diary of a Virgin Novelist´s last blog ..Yet another struggle with the title of "Writer" =-.
Ditto exactly to what Suzannah said.
And LOL to what Rebecca said. I think we all do that.
.-= Kristan´s last blog ..Check your Wanting =-.
OOOHHHH the background just went blue on me! I like!
.-= Kristan´s last blog ..Check your Wanting =-.
I’ve done my fair share of kvetching over having to accomodate editor’s comments for my nonfiction writing, now, like Maribetth, I crave an editor’s input for my fiction writing. But maybe you’re saying we should be careful what I wish for? :-) Good luck with your revisions and your recovery.
.-= Densie Webb´s last blog ..To Prologue or Not to Prologue =-.
A couple of years ago, my dad did the whole radiation/surgery/2 weeks in ICU/7 weeks in the hospital/cancer treatment. Throughout that process, plus the long months of recovery (he’s doing great now!), I wrote a book. In my own head, it is the ‘cancer’ book. Even if there was too much of your treatment in your book, I hope you didn’t permanently delete those scenes–not so much for us–but because they were an important part of you–and you wrote them at a time you needed to write them.
.-= Sarah Woodbury´s last blog ..Was King Arthur real? =-.
Isn’t it funny how our personal lives get into our books and vice versa? Glad you are having a better year and good luck!
.-= Kelly Bryson´s last blog ..Review of ‘Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel’ =-.
Wow, all of this keeping you busy and you still made time to write this great post for us. Thank you. Fascinating and informative stuff.
As several others have noted, it’s interesting to see what parts of our personal lives/interests/quirks end up in our work.
While I was revising my novel, I noticed that I often described my characters’ eyebrows moving, twitching, etc., probably because I notice people’s eyebrows. (I’m obsessive about plucking mine, hence the interest in my friends’. Is that TMI?)
Best of luck recovering from your sickness.
.-= Laura Droege´s last blog ..5 Things to make a difference (and change yourself in the process) =-.
Thanks, all, for the perceptive and varied comments – the WU community has great collective wisdom!
Therese, I kept a version of the ms ‘as was’ before making the changes, so somewhere in my archives those cut scenes still exist. Down the track it could be an interesting exercise to post sections of old and new in parallel, but I would wait until after publication to do that.
Karen, I hope I’ve got a good balance now with some homey stuff included but not too much. It’s realistic, I think, that people would have their meaningful group conversations while at the supper table or while doing communal work. And with Clodagh as a supporting character, there is inevitably some sewing, weaving and spinning going on!
Dear Juliet,
As a fledgling of a writer (and somewhat severe Sevenwaters enthusiast), I really enjoy your posts. I picked up Daughter of the Forest on a whim about six years ago. I happily fell deeply in love with it. I made my friends read it. They fell in love with it!
Thankyou for a beautiful story that has made our lives that little bit richer. (I’ve just realised my linked blog post mentions Sevenwaters as being a part of my perfect day – :) proof of my severe case of enthusiasm).
I wish you the best of luck oh, and I love the homey stuff!
Ok. I love it all.
.-= Sara´s last blog ..One Fine Day =-.
I received “Daughter of the Forest” for my birthday, in Portuguese and decided to collect the lot in the same language, as the characters now had Portuguese ‘voices’, in my head.
I finally finished “Child of the Prophecy” at the start of the year. It was a beautiful journey, whilst I lived vicariously through those tantalizing words.
One moment, I’d be openly weeping with/for the character(s), next, I’d burned with rage towards a villain, then I’d be smiling like a fool, filled with happiness at a ‘happy’ conclusion to some event,
Thank you.
I thus, have collected all your books currently published in Portuguese, save for “Heart’s Blood”, which I picked up here, in Oz.
I also just wanted to second the opinion of a previous reader, in that this post offers me a wealth of information, like painting me a realistic idea of what I might/probably will have to deal with, once/if I ever finish my book.
Keep on inspiring us.
– A fan
What a great comment – thank you, Patrick! I’m glad this was useful.