That in-person feeling

Last month on this blog, Rowena Rae wrote about how, since COVID, the partners of West Coast Editorial Associates have gained a renewed appreciation for our in-person quarterly meetings, while also taking advantage of monthly online get-togethers.

The month after the partnership retreat she mentions in that post, I was travelling and met for the first time a woman whose book I edited eight years ago. Although we had only corresponded by email, when she greeted me at the airport, we felt as if we had been close friends for years. And some of our discussions during our visit revealed information that made me wish I could revisit passages in her book and perhaps edit them differently.

That experience, combined with Rowena’s blog, got me thinking about how much editing is done with no personal contact other than emails and marks on a document. And how different it feels when an editor works with an author in person or even over the phone or by Zoom.

By their nature, writing and editing are solitary tasks. As they have for hundreds of years, authors work alone as they write their manuscript, whether it’s a novel, technical report, strategic plan, or other product. In turn, lone editors pore over the document, blocking out distractions, as they correct errors and suggest revisions. After the edit, the author reviews the editor’s changes, accepts some, rejects others, and the manuscript carries on to production and publication without any further contact with the editor.

But I’ve occasionally had an author request a consultation by phone or in person to go over the edits. I’ve also worked with authors who ask to meet, whether over coffee or virtually by phone or Zoom, before we start the editing process. And sometimes I’ve edited authors I knew as friends before they wrote their book. In all these situations, I’ve learned that editing feels very different when there are in-person aspects to it.

When I edit, I’m always aware of the person behind the document as I ask questions or make suggestions on the manuscript. (I’m also thinking of the reader, though that’s a subject for a different blog post.) But if I don’t have a personal relationship with the author, I feel that my comments may sometimes come across as too formal or too bossy. (Note that WCEA partner Ruth Wilson offers a workshop about how to avoid these problems.)

In contrast, if I know the author, or have met with them even once by phone before I begin work on a manuscript, I feel the editing is more like a conversation. My comments are more relaxed and refer to previous discussions we’ve had. Perhaps I have a better sense of the author’s background or their reasons for writing the manuscript, which will also shape my edits.

When it comes time for the author to review my edits, having a meeting with them by phone or in person can lead to changes that might not happen when the conversation happens only on the edited page. An author’s reluctance to make a change I’ve suggested could lead to their revealing information that alters my understanding of the passage. Further discussion might produce a dramatic revision that strengthens the message the author is trying to convey. It might even change the direction of the manuscript.

If there’s a downside to in-person author meetings, it’s that they take time in an editor’s busy work life. For some personality types, they can also be a challenge. Whether we’re overworked or shy or feeling inexperienced, many of us may be reluctant to pick up the phone, arrange a virtual meeting, or connect in a café. But the benefits far outweigh those factors. Although I’m an introvert, as many editors and writers are, I realize I should make more use of my introvert superpower as a listener to connect with my authors as we work to make their writing the best it can be.

Related viewing

Two movies that show the author-editor relationship are Genius (2016), featuring the fictionalized relationship between Scribner’s editor Maxwell Perkins (played by Colin Firth) and Thomas Wolfe (Jude Law), author of massive (5,000-page) manuscripts; and Turn Every Page (2022), a documentary about Lyndon Johnson biographer Robert Caro and his editor Robert Gottlieb.