Speculation, Fact and Fiction

The following rang most resoundingly true for me, both as a reader and a writer.

"Mr. X was compared to Mark Twain, John Irving, Martin Amis, Tom Robbins and even Charles Dickens. What more could I want?

A plot, compelling voices, believable characters and an editor with a machete for starters. There were a lot of funny moments and lines, and Mr. X is obviously an exceptionally imaginative and witty guy, but where were his minders? Someone should have sat him down in an interrogation room and offered a plea bargain: Lose 100 pages or go to jail.

Editors are the invisible heroes of the publishing industry, and as publishing companies cut corners, they cut editors. On the most basic level, that means more typos, grammatical errors and factual contradictions. A novel I read recently had a character die in two different years. How could no one have noticed? Because the person whose job used to be Prissy Fuss has been let go. A little slippage of the rules here or there isn't going to hurt anyone, I imagine the deciders deciding.

But without strong editors, writers are like cars with accelerators but no brakes. While reading many of Mr. X's long passages, I pictured him at his computer (or typewriter), entertaining himself with his own wit and wisdom. That's as it should be. Then an editor should tell him, "You're a great writer (always start with the praise), but let's do some judicious whittling and make this fabulous book (more praise) even better." It's hard work for both author and editor, but it's only fair to those of us who still invest in books."

You'll notice I haven't identified Mr X - because I haven't read the book in question so that's hardly fair and anyway, who he might be has nothing to do with the point that I'm taking from this piece.

If you're desperate to know who he is, you can find out here.

If you are an aspiring writer, bear in mind that the more stringent you can make your own inner editor, the more chance your book has of rising above the competition on agents' and publishers' desks.