The Editing Process Begins

The last time I took a book through the editing process was for Fried Windows, which was released over a year ago. Now the process begins anew with Becoming Thuperman. My editor has been assigned and the wrestling matches begin.

An author's vision for a book often differs from how a read will perceive it. You may believe that an editor's primary function is to correct errors in the text but really a good editor works with the author to produce the highest quality work possible. That also includes considerations of plot, pacing, character building, conflict - pretty much all the elements of a good story. In the balance there is a relationship developed and the product, a great book, emerges from the interchange.

Becoming Thuperman was a side project I began while awaiting the substantive edits for Fried Windows. So the story was created in the late summer and early fall of 2013. As I had done with Fried Windows, I submitted each chapter to Fanstory, an online community of writers, for immediate feedback, which was generally positive. However, some of the feedback prompted me to rethink the story a good bit and over the course of several weeks the composition took shape.

Initially, I thought of writing a cute story about a pair of eight-year-olds, a boy and a girl, who share a summer adventure and in the process learn they have superpowers. The pair share an interest in baseball and the girl, who is a natural athlete, helps the boy refine his pitching technique so that he can try out for the Little League team. The boy tries to convince the girl that she also needs to be on the team.

There are several other things going on in the background.

One thing that happens whenever the editing of a manuscript begins is that the editor points out many things the author - due to the closeness to the story - has overlooked. A number of things need to be clarified and some things that were necessary for the sake of writing a story - and were absolutely necessary for the writing - are not necessary for the reader to understand the story. Think of it like this: someone who wants to know what time it is doesn't need instructions on how to build a clock. All the pieces that a writer uses to keep the story going in his or her mind for the initial telling need to be reviewed and some of those can be removed for the sake of improved flow. Discussions ensue as to whether this or that part is needed. The writer, of course, wants to keep every little part of the story but in truth, every raw manuscript can use a good haircut.