Faulkner famously remarked that "in writing, you must kill your darlings." By this I've taken him to mean that the things we are proudest of in our stories—the perfect metaphors, the exquisite scenes—might indeed by expressions of artistry, but mostly they are just distractions to the reader. As writers we are often accurate judges of our work, but not always so, which is yet another reason we need editors. I'm dealing with this now as I undertake a revision of my second novel. My editor has marked up a few of my darlings, and now I must decide whether I have the guts to do away with them.
Book Trailers, Yea or Nay?
For a while I've been flirting with the idea of creating a book trailer for The Poacher's Son: you know, a little video to add to the homepage and upload to YouTube. But I've been of two minds. Part of me says, "Hey, we live in a multimedia age, and I'd rather be the amphibian that adapts than the trilobite that doesn't." The other part of me says, "Why are you dwelling on these things and not working on your new book?" For the moment, this essay by Troy Patterson on Slate has tipped me into the no trailer camp.
The Importance of Editing
I haven't read any of Dan Baum's books, but I've enjoyed his magazine journalism for years and the man has a natural talent for writing online. His account of being fired from the New Yorker done as a series of Twitter tweets is a ground-breaking experiement in the form.
I also like what he has to say about the importance of editing for writers. As an editor by trade myself, I like to believe I contribute a thimbulful of worth to the universe, but beyond that, I've seen countless editorial examples of bad pieces rescued, good pieces made better, and great pieces left alone, all of which convince me that writers desperately need someone to keep them honest. Nearly 100 percent of the unedited writing on the Internets — including this blog — cements my case.
In my own professional experience the worst writers are the ones least amenable to editing, although occasionally some very good freelancers will also fight you for every comma; it's difficult to generalize. But if I may play Dr. Phil for a moment (read the next section to yourself in a Texas drawl), I would say that if you're a young editor and dealing with a new writer for the first time and that person has started issuing ultimatums before you've made a single proofreading mark, you probably don't want to throw yourself into a long-term professional relationship.
So I recommend and endorse what Baum has to say here about the important role editors have played in his professional life.
I'm dealing with this now on my second novel, which needs another run through the lathe. I must focus on submitting to the wisdom of my fine editor while the psycho writer part of myself wants to retreat behind his usual mud-and-wattle defenses.
P.S. That said, bad editors are horrible and should be avoided like H1N1. Unfortunately, you probably won't be able to recognize them until they have already begun their work disfiguring your professional reputation.
Have I Got a Trendy Title or What?
If daughters are hot, then sons have got to be next, right? My title is ahead of the curve, baby.
On Maine Weather
One of my first jobs was being a paperboy, which in some ways is as close as I'm ever going to get to being a Maine game warden who must do his job every day in all kinds of weather. It was brutal going out into those subzero mornings—but bracing also. I'm not sure I've ever felt as intensely alive. (People who avoid the cold deny themselves that experience of pure vitality.) And the best fires are the ones we find waiting for us at home when we return from an adventure in the freezing cold.