Revision Re-visited

When my manuscript comes back from my editor with the first set of revisions, I get really excited. I’m not sure if this means I’m weird. Does anyone else enjoy getting their revisions back?

I guess I like it for two reasons. Firstly, I get to re-read my story. This will be for the umpteenth time, but it will have been awhile since I last read it. I love to meet up with my characters again. Plus, it’s one more chance to be satisfied, or make that last(!) change.

The second reason is that I really value the input from my editor. Not only does she bring her expertise to the table, she will identify  flaws, amend grammatical errors, and make comments on consistency, realism, and overall enjoyment of the book. Believe me, there will be plenty.

In addition to sending the edited version of my story, the editor will summarise her findings and overall comments. From the tone, I get a good feel whether to expect a lot of comments or not too many. My second book to be published, Guiltless, came back with very few, only needing to go through one round of edits. It was a different story with my first book, The Secret At Arnford Hall, where the story is much darker and some scenes needed to be handled sensitively.

After digesting the editor’s summary, the first thing I do when I open the Word document containing the manuscript, is make two saves, one as the original from the editor, and the second renamed to show it is the copy on which I make any changes or comments. Then, under strict instruction from the publisher, track changes goes on and stays on. This necessity is obvious. I desperately want to see what the editor has done to my original script, and, of course, she needs to know what I do. I may comment that I love the changes she has made, or I may even state that I don’t agree. If the latter is the case, I will justify my reasons as appropriate. There are strict rules in the contract about changes made and accepted, which I think’s fair enough. Although it will always be my book, I appreciate it’s important the publisher knows exactly what they are publishing in the end.

After settling at the island in my kitchen with a cup of herbal tea, I’m ready to read the whole script, going through it with a fine-tooth comb. I begin by scrolling down the “track changes” panel to scan for comments and points of significance. These usually stand out from formatting and grammar changes by being longer notes and tagged as comments.

If there is something significant, I will take time to consider the point raised.

Here’s an example. The editor commented, “If you keep repeating the character’s last name, you put artificial distance between the character and the reader, and that is the last thing you want to do.” This raised an important point for me. I was deliberately using the last name to emphasize the remoteness of Gabriel Black in The Secret At Arnford Hall. But clearly that point hadn’t gotten across to the editor. Therefore it’s very likely it wouldn’t get across to the reader either. It made me realize I had alienated the hero too much.

But like I said, I don’t always accept what the editor does. In another example, before my work went to my American publisher, Black Opal Books, an editor commented on the number of days I had left between a death and a funeral. She thought it was too many. But a post mortem would have been necessary and I had already checked with a policewoman friend who said my time period was realistic. So I explained this in my own comment.

Whenever I disagree with a comment from the editor, I always re-check my reasoning to make sure I’m still happy with my version. Like I said before, what the editor questions, the reader may well question. That may mean I’ve got it wrong somewhere and that’s the last thing I want.

Then there are the times I can’t see the wood for the trees. Once I had a car change from white at the beginning of a book, to silver by the end, without a re-spray.

There’s one more point I’d like to share. Going through the editor’s revisions makes me feel a part of team. Ultimately the editor, and publisher, are on my side – we all want to sell books and we want readers to enjoy them. The life of an author can be a very lonely one and it’s good for me to know someone is there with me, even if they are nearly five thousand miles away.