Kathryn Price Helen Corner-Bryant - On Editing: How to Edit Your Novel the Professional Way

HELEN CORNER-BRYANT

AND

KATHRYN PRICE

On Editing

How to edit your novel the professional way

Contents

Foreword

This book, in its original form, was Write A Blockbuster And Get It Published by Helen Corner and Lee Weatherly and it was published as part of the world-renowned Teach Yourself series.

Since this first came out, and over the decades Ive run Cornerstones a world-leading literary consultancy weve worked with thousands of writers, and through this experience weve refined our techniques, examined how best to communicate them and delved deeper into what brings a novel to life and gives it that page-turning bestseller quality. With Lees blessing, I reverted the rights and teamed up with my editor-in-chief and Cornerstones veteran Kathryn Price to look again at what we had. Gathering valuable insights from my US managing editor Michele Rubin, we set about writing On Editing: How to edit your novel the professional way .

Im delighted to say that John Murray bought it back, and it is now their flagship creative writing title in the Teach Yourself series. This is a comprehensive exploration of structural editing tools and techniques: perfect for the debut author looking to raise their writing to the next level, for the published writer wanting a refresher, and for the would-be industry editor.

Editing is often seen as the boring bit. Authors find it difficult, daunting, restrictive. When you hear a writer say they enjoy self-editing as much as writing, you might wonder how this could be. How have they learned to embrace their critical voices, face their doubts head-on and know that they can edit fearlessly?

It became apparent to us that self-editing is a transformative process: not just a set of rules but also the exhilarating point where a writers creativity and instinct meets their technique and self-discipline.

We want to give you that same confidence: the ability to trust your inner critics and let them guide you; the courage to give your creative side the freedom to fly.

We hope youll dip into this book when you need reminding how to structure a plot that keeps its tension throughout; how to bring characters to life; or how to hone an effective query letter or synopsis. Most of all, we hope it will take your book into bestseller territory and beyond.

Acknowledgements

Id like to sincerely thank Kathryn Price who wrote much of this while looking after two young children. Shes an extraordinary colleague and mother to boot. My husband and son for bearing with me while Ive been writing and editing away. Right now, Im supposed to be at the tank museum but I have a deadline to deliver this book. Ill make it up to you both! My editors and the team whose expertise always teaches me new things were all nerds here at Cornerstones and love swapping notes. Michele Rubin, whose insights are invaluable and who shares my dream to bridge the markets where possible and help authors. Lee Weatherly (award-winning writer many times in her own right) who ran Kids Corner many moons ago. Without Lee our teaching practices would not be what they are today. And to my publisher, Jonathan Shipley: it feels like Ive come home.

And finally to our authors, editors, and the inner editor in you: we love working with you.

Helen Corner-Bryant

I'd like to thank Helen, first and foremost, for bringing me on board and giving me the opportunity to share my passion for editing with a wider audience. From the moment we met, 15 years ago, Helen has supported, challenged and championed me. The world needs more bosses like her.

My husband, Mark, who shares my love of stories and is astonishingly tolerant when I ruin them for him by picking holes in them or correctly predicting what's about to happen. My lovely boys, who are just starting to learn that stories don't magically appear out of nowhere and it's actually somebody's job to make them up! And my parents, for always reading to me and teaching me that stories are about more than just the words on the page.

Finally I'd like to say a special thanks to all the Cornerstones editors (including those, like Lee, who Helen has already thanked). Your collective knowledge and expertise is awe-inspiring and together I think we make a team that really is greater than the sum of its parts.

Kathryn Price

Meet the authors

Helen Corner-Bryant , whose expertise on submission and the publishing process forms of this book, spent a number of years in editorial at Penguin before setting up Cornerstones Literary Consultancy in 1998. Cornerstones is known for teaching self-editing techniques, providing feedback, scouting for agents and launching writers. In 2016, she opened Cornerstones US, creating the worlds first transatlantic literary consultancy. Helen is a guest lecturer at leading universities including UCL Centre for Publishing and the Columbia Publishing Course at Oxford. She loves helping authors get a step closer towards achieving their dreams, whether thats to become a better writer, acquire an agent, get published, or hit the bestseller list.

Kathryn Price achieved a first in English Literature from UCL and then worked in literary agencies for three years before joining Cornerstones as managing editor in 2005. There she honed her passion for editing, and for teaching the skills and techniques that she breaks down in of this book. She went on to become co-partner of Cornerstones and now works closely with authors at all stages of their writing journey in her role as editor-in-chief. She believes that editing should be an essential and enjoyable part of the writing process, helping authors to realize their creative vision in its purest, clearest form.

Michele Rubin , whose insights into the US market are featured in , was a Senior Literary Agent at Writers House for 25 years where she represented, among other projects, The Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., founding the King Legacy Imprint at Beacon Press in 2010. She left agenting in 2013 to work full-time as a freelance editor, writer, ghostwriter, and facilitator of writing workshops. In 2016 Michele took over as Managing Editor for Cornerstones US, mentoring authors across the globe aimed at the US market.

Part I

Editing your novel

Getting started

When you decide to pursue your writing professionally, things get serious. But there are plenty of insider tricks you can use to keep your energy high and your creative juices flowing. By thinking carefully about genre whilst keeping your Big Idea in mind, you can clarify your vision for the novel and improve your chances of successfully targeting readers. If you start the editing process with this level of focus, the rest should follow smoothly.

So youve written a novel

Or maybe youre in the middle of editing one; or youre just about to begin a first draft. The chances are, if youve picked up this book, youre serious about writing and you dont need teaching how to be a writer. Youre thinking about taking it to the next level hopefully, publication.

There are many reasons people write, and whilst publication/financial reward tends to be high on the list, its not always the biggest motivation, at least initially. Though everyones heard about authors whove hit the big time (at some point most writers allow themselves to daydream about success and why not?!) these tend to be the exception rather than the rule. Authors write, first and foremost, because theyre inspired: like most creative endeavours, its something youre driven to do.

But the next step, becoming good at it , demands a mixture of imagination, talent, hard work, and craft. The craft is what this section of the book aims to teach: the ability to analyse what youve produced with an objective eye; the potential problems to watch out for, and some options for how to fix them.

This book can be used at any stage of the writing process: as a set of guidelines and tools to enable you to start writing from scratch, or as a set of principles to follow when working back through your text and redrafting. Wherever the techniques and tools are applied, you will be using publishing-level principles to produce writing you can be proud of.

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