The learning curve continues — current focus: social media ad campaigns

This past week, I ran a basic ad on Facebook (Meta) for my anthology. I decided to go with another week and a more visually interesting virtual poster, and ran into a snag.

The platform didn’t like it. Said my ad had violated the policy of “circumventing systems”. I’m not sure why… here’s the original, made with Pages. Maybe someone out there can tell me what I did wrong:

At first, I’d gone with an orange background because it’s Hallowe’en-y, but that made the text too hard to read. When I switched to a more yellow hue, the shade reminded me of a flashlight — even more so when I played with the sliding colour gradation and landed on the round shading from the corners in.

But Meta thinks the graphic is trying to hide something. Or maybe it didn’t like my use of the em-dash?

So I clicked for a review request, and waited. I suppose I could have also selected the chat option, to learn more, but when I went back and looked at it again, I thought maybe I could just redo the visuals.

It’s been a few years since I last used Canva, so I had to start over with a fresh account. I’d forgotten how enjoyable that software is to play with! After scrolling through the options, here is what I came up with:

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Much more satisfying… although I also did like the look of a flashlight and contemplated using a desk or a wall and trying to add that element, somehow.

This reminds me that in the process of making Leave the Lights On into an ebook, I discovered a couple of errors that I’d missed in the creation of the print copy. So I need and want and want and need to refresh that file as well, because it is still a darling little spooky pocket-sized collection of stories and I still want it to present itself as best as it can.

I’ve also been working on the new covers for the Talbot Trilogy. Two are done! And I’m excited for the reveals. However, I have been procrastinating on loading the refreshed Mist and Midnight file to my chosen platform, partly because just when I think I’ve spotted every problem and solved every issue, another one will crop up every time I submit the thing and look at the resulting file. It’s enough to make one want to throw solid objects against vertical surfaces. And I’ve been fighting to change my routines, still dealing with regular fatigue and assorted challenges. So perhaps this blog will help to keep me accountable.

And yes, I know I know I know I need to finish my business plan. Although people who are close to me and knowledgeable about small businesses — a good friend, and my spouse — have suggested that at this juncture, I have enough, and could reasonably register my editing service, since I don’t need a completed plan for that. Adding to the list…

But on the plus side, a package arrived a few days ago: a paper dollhouse model that I’d ordered through Etsy in August. It’s the Sanderson Sisters’ cottage from Hocus Pocus! So of course, in the midst of putting off the more difficult things, I decided to devote some hours to cutting out the pieces and constructing the model . . . and I’m quite pleased with the results!

One day, in the near or far future, I would like to use this model as the basis for a cardboard or even wood model of the cottage. But this is enough for now. Plus, I still have the spooky WWDITS-inspired dollhouse to work on.

Priorities! Time blocks! Rewards! Short- and long-term goals! Celebrate the victories! etc.

Aaaand now it’s time for bed… can’t do any of the things without proper rest.

New dollhouse piece!

Among my hobbies is a deep love for all things miniature — particularly the Littles (by Mattel) and anything in 1:24 scale. I still harbour a deep desire to write an epistolary novel about a creepy haunted dollhouse. Maybe this will help to inspire me?

I was first gifted the Littles’ furniture sets (kitchen, bathroom, living room, bedroom) when I was around 5 or 6 (I think), and although last year I realized the bathroom set was missing, I still had most of the rest. Except the dolls. They had long been lost, especially after a bout of unfortunate hair-cutting…

Early in my time away from paid work, while getting through the pandemic and beginning my recovery process from burnout/breakdown, I discovered that it was possible to get a second-hand Littles’ dollhouse — or even a new-in-box! And even better, I found a good condition second-hand dollhouse in my own province!

So I splurged and a childhood dream was achieved. Actually… I think it unlocked a bit of a monster.

Since then, I have been collecting other pieces from the series. I had to get another dollhouse in order to replace the missing chimney and front doors, and that spare structure is being remodelled into a spookier dwelling inspired by the show What We Do In The Shadows — a blog post for another time. Last spring, I finally got the whole of the primary family characters, too, including the baby! And I found a rare piece in 2022: the player piano (although I continue to be tempted by the few new-in-package pianos I see now and then, as they come with the stool and I don’t have the stool…).

Utter madness, this obsession with a 1980s toy set.

But as someone who struggles regularly with mental health challenges, the kind of joy that these pieces bring me is almost indescribable. I must share, to make up for the days when my thoughts and writings are more maudlin than joyful.

I tend to get extremely over-enthusiastic when someone expresses interest or when something new comes in, and so it happened again today, when one item arrived that I had been searching for since mid-2021: the rare yellow breakfront hutch.

I immediately ambushed both my daughter and her boyfriend when they came home after school, and she had to tell me to calm down when I insisted on giving him the grand mini tour. My beloved spouse, before going off to his night shift, urged me not to take the yellow hutch out of the package, but I am of the view that toys are meant to be loved. And so the rare breakfront (with its wee good teapot and platter!!!) has finally arrived at its purpose, and its home…

As you can see, there are a few whimsical pieces that aren’t necessarily part of the Littles’ die cast and plastic furnishing and décor. It bothers me a little bit that I’ve added those, as though I’m interfering with the purity of the toy. But there are certain things that I can’t help but want to improve — the bathroom doesn’t need to be so big, for example, and would benefit from a room-dividing folding screen so that the children have a proper nursery. The walls inside the rooftop cupola are awfully bare, as are the stairs. Now that I have the missing pieces (except the piano stool), I think I can start playing with filling in those gaps. And perhaps even one day affix new wallpaper and flooring to give it an even more authentic miniature room feel…

But for now, my inner child is squealing in delight. And the next project remains the creepy haunted dollhouse, both practically and in the words of my pages…

Thank you for sharing my joy with me!

Pond Maintenance Day

The season for the pond is nearly over, but we have another week or two of nice weather so today I refreshed about 2/3 of the water for the turtle and goldfish. Next year I definitely need to invest in those little water weeds that help to reduce algae. I skimmed a lot of fallen leaves and debris out of the pond, but I can’t help but wonder whether the aquatic creatures are actually enjoying the increase in natural substrate — why, you may ask? Because at least three times I accidentally scooped out fish along with the leaves! From the bottom of the pond!

In the middle of that, I found myself contemplating again whether to create my own covers for the books in The Talbot Trilogy. I’ve done it before, and this time of year lends itself well to the setting of each novel. My crabapple tree is heavy with fruit (also contemplating what to do with it — this is the first year since we moved in that the crabapples have done so well, they’re bending the branches!) and the changing leaves on various shrubs and vines are beautifully coloured. I could stage something with objects. I could also look for and purchase some stock images to compose something appropriate. Maybe tomorrow I’ll look into that.

The pond cleaning wore me out. It’s very good exercise, involving squats and lifts. Tomorrow I need to follow a similar pattern in cleaning the indoor fish and turtle tanks, prepping for the return of the creatures inside either by the end of the month or in early October — last year, I brought them in too soon and felt badly that they missed the unexpected few warm days in mid-autumn. After all, the water holds the temperature for longer than you’d think. Once we start getting regular frost, that’ll be the signal. And then I must remember to also drain the pond completely and cover it to protect the wild things like birds from getting stuck in the cavity when the snow melts in the spring… fishing dead winged things out of the dark water was so wrong, back in May.

But those crabapples… we have a ton of canning supplies, I wonder if my beloved spouse would be into making preserves this week?

I could pick up some lemon juice and try drying them, making crisps, and I found a recipe for crabapple cake. Would my daughter’s baking class be willing to use them? I wonder if they would be willing to come and pick them as part of a mini-field trip? Failing that, could the local food bank use them?

How do you choose a favourite?

Do you remember your favorite book from childhood?

It’s so difficult, settling on just one. I think I could safely say that, for a while, before I was 8 years old, my favourite book was Little House on the Prairie, because I have the clearest memory of it. But I also really loved the Richard Scarry books, and a number of Doctor Seuss and Little Golden Books — The Pokey Little Puppy stands out to me, as well as a picture book that focused on how people lived in different kinds of houses all over the world. And at some point my paternal grandmother had given me a thick collection of fairy and folk tales that I adored. I still have it.

When I was 8 or 9, my mother introduced me to Robin McKinley’s work with the amazing fantasy, The Blue Sword. I recall her sitting down with my brother and myself to read it aloud to both of us, and after she finished the first chapter or so, I took the book along and read the rest of it myself.

I have always thought, if I could make a movie, it would be a faithful adaptation of The Blue Sword.

How old was I when I first read The Secret Garden? Anne of Green Gables? A Little Princess, or Black Beauty? It seems like I had always known them, but it had to be around ages 10 to 12, at the latest. I deeply enjoyed Calico Captive, and when I was 12, I discovered steamy romances by stumbling on a copy of a historical novel based on the life of Hatshepsut, the woman pharaoh of ancient Egypt. Oh, and The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper — I recently found a nearly-pristine copy of the Scholastic editions of those books, which is extremely satisfying.

Remember the Choose Your Own Adventure books? I liked those, but I only had so many fingers to mark the places in the journey so that if I didn’t like the conclusion, I could go back and choose differently.

It’s so hard to choose favourites… to me, perhaps because I am (possibly maybe probably) on the autism spectrum, narrowing down a favourite is wholly dependent on a variety of factors at a certain time and place. If I am feeling nostalgic for the image of perceived “simpler times”, I may say that Little House or Green Gables are my favourite, and I often do. But when I consider my entry points into fantasy, I have to go back and weigh McKinley vs Cooper. Oh, and that dovetails with science fiction: I discovered Robert Heinlein the summer I was 12 and spent a week with my maternal grandparents at their retirement village. His style then makes me think of Arthur Conan Doyle — was I eleven years old when I “borrowed” my brother’s brand-new copy of The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes and read it cover to cover?

It could be more appropriate to say I had a favourite genre, as a child: history seemed to be the overwhelming preference, sometimes mixed with fantasy or science fiction. I wasn’t aware yet of steam-punk, but I was beginning to collect satires (hello Mad Magazine!) and horror comics (mmmm Cryptkeeper, my old friend).

No, for me, a favourite is not something permanent. It ebbs and wanes on the tides of interest. Certain childhood books still have the capacity to move me to tears, while others I no longer have the patience or innocence to devour. A few I have made sure to share with my own children, while they were children. And we developed favourites together, but even those rose and fell over time.

I feel like asking about a favourite can be somewhat limiting, in fact. It can be the start of an illuminating conversation, of course. Or an annoying one, if it’s someone like me who cannot quite settle. Ask me about a specific moment in time, when I wanted to feel a certain way or learn something specific, and I will definitely pinpoint a favourite for that blip in my life.

But for now, no favourites. Only a bouquet of beloveds, each appreciated for their own merits, one at a time.

On the Advantages of an Editing Team

I have been thinking more about this idea over the last several months or so — little inklings of thoughts, concepts that wanted articulation but didn’t quite get there.

It’s this perception that stems from the nature of writing and editing as fairly solitary enterprises. Sometimes writers are fortunate to be able to collaborate with peers (though those with experience might want to point out the challenges and disadvantages of doing so), or with writing and book coaches.

And then, once the draft is done, and accepted for publication, the manuscript is then passed to an editor for review and clean-up. Sometimes — or usually, depending on the house — it will move on to a second or third editor for subsequent rounds of checking and proofreading.

With multiple people being involved in the development and publishing process, it’s possible to say that the writer has or is part of a loosely-knit team.

But when an author is looking to self-publish their work, that means either self-editing or hiring an outside professional to assist with the task. Given that contracting with an experienced and qualified individual can get a little pricey at times, it’s not surprising that the author might choose to only have one round done, with only one editor. Two rounds with two editors, if they are extremely fortunate and privileged enough to afford the luxury (although in another way, one can see the expense as a necessary investment for the success of the book).

Where I get contemplative is in considering the pressure that can fall on that single or pair of editors, the latter of whom may never actually meet to confer or consult with each other on the manuscript.

Two heads are better than one, as the saying goes. Great minds think alike. Teams can accomplish more things than individuals alone, depending on the circumstances.

I am curious to know how many writers are dependent on teams of editors working together on their manuscripts. And what the experiences of those editorial teams are like. Because although I am very good at what I do, I don’t claim to be perfect — I will miss a few things, here and there, as most humans will. Even Stephen King’s editors have not been immune to the fallibility of human eyes. And AI doesn’t yet understand the nuances of written expression in fictional contexts. So when I provide editing services, it’s in the hopes that I am doing so as part of a larger team, although I may never actually meet with or even speak or otherwise communicate with the other members. I encourage my clients to seek out just one more editor or proofreader, if it’s possible, to get one more perspective or final look, prior to self-publishing or submitting their work. It’s not because I don’t think I did a good job; it’s to catch anything that I might have inadvertently left unattended.

The frustrating part is the financial aspect of hiring second- and third-round editors. I have some ideas on how to make such efforts more affordable, like requesting deferred payments after publication and a successful release, but it seems like that strategy would generate its own risks.

But imagine your team of editors seated around the table, virtual or in-person, reviewing together the issues that have arisen during the reading of the manuscript. Three or four dedicated specialists, sharing their thoughts, interpretations, suggestions for problem-solving, delegating any needed research, checking each other’s pages for anything that might have been missed. How powerful would that be!

Of course, I’m an idealist. I could see some interpersonal stuff arising.

But the manuscript would sparkle.

Is Your Editor also Your Cheerleader?

It’s an interesting question.

It could be argued that, because the editor is helping with locating and correcting errors in the manuscript, improving flow, coherency, and consistency, their efforts are similar to that of a coach.

But in the industry, writing and book coaches aren’t considered to be the same as editors: a writing coach helps an author who is struggling to conceptualize what they want to produce, or assists them with developing their concept or first drafts into fully-fledged manuscript. I see a lot of similarities there with the role of a teacher, in fact, in that the writing coach encourages the wordcrafter to keep going on their project when the going gets tough.

Some sources I have found in a quick Google search differentiate the role of a book coach, stating that the purpose of this position is to assist the writer on a specific book, rather than their general process as they work on one or more manuscripts.

Others use writing and book coach interchangeably. But overall, the agreement is that these coaches, whether they are supporting the development of general or specific projects, are not editors. In some cases, I am seeing, a writing and/or book coach might even function as a ghostwriter — again, no overall consensus on this — but editing is different. An editor is never a ghostwriter.

So if an editor is not a coach, despite assisting the writer with cleaning up and improving the manuscript after the first and subsequent drafts are completed, would it be fair or appropriate to see the editor as a cheerleader?

I feel like these terms of coach and cheerleader really want us to lean into sports analogies. And maybe that could work, to some extent. But where the metaphor runs into trouble is that cheerleaders don’t generally get involved in the strategic decision-making processes of the players and their coaches. They don’t provide critique or feedback. They do provide morale-boosts, encouraging fans as well as the team members.

From that perspective, would it be more appropriate to view an agent, publisher, and/or publicist as an author’s cheerleader(s)?

If so, where does that leave the editor?

Is an editor more of an assistant coach? The Beard to the Lasso?

How about the equipment manager?

The sports analogies might be problematic, after all. Because in athletics, those roles work symbiotically, to some extent, interacting in turns and cycles; in writing and publishing, the process seems to be more linear, with each role handing off to the next until each task is completed. There can be back-and-forth between various positions, especially as the manuscript moves through the various stages of drafting and submission, first round of edits to final, proofreading and advance review copies… Writing feels far more compartmentalized than athletics.

And that makes a certain amount of sense, because so much of literary composition is a solitary process and experience.

But if an editor is not a coach — does not collaborate with an author to complete a manuscript — and not a cheerleader, where does that leave that significant role in the work and world of the writer?

From my perspective, an editor is an altogether unique animal. There are aspects of support and morale-boosting, in that the task of providing effective feedback and identifying issues that may or do need improvement has to be done in such a way that the writer in question does not become defensive, discouraged, frustrated, or stalled in their process. And there are aspects of coaching, in that if problems of consistency or coherence are detected, the editor may need to suggest solutions that maintain the author’s voice and intentions, collaborating with them in the process. A key difference between the writing/book coach and the editor may well be the point at which the professional is brought in to assist: during the initial project development itself, and then after the first drafts are completed.

Kind of wanting to make a Venn diagram out of all of this…

Maybe we can view the editor as the cleaning crew. Cleaning up is as important to morale as athletic dancing, as anyone who has worked in a facility with caretaking custodial staff might attest. A workspace, gaming field, or project that is tidied and set up for smooth operation, aesthetically pleasing and made optimally functional, makes for a much better experience of any type.

From this point of view, editing as cleaning crew or custodial feels far less glamorous than cheerleading or coaching. But the analogy makes even more sense when we consider how much institutional cleaning happens behind the scenes, how detailed that task can be, and how often it is taken for granted. The custodian is the unsung hero of businesses and residences alike. It’s dirty, yet satisfying work. Necessary work. Cleaning protects our well-being, and if you have ever gotten to know the custodial staff of your workplace or building, conversing with individual staff members and doing your part to make life a little easier for them, you know that they will make life that much more comfortable for you, in return. Your custodial staff can absolutely be your cheerleaders behind the scenes. And sometimes, even, your life and work coaches — because they may see details that others might miss.

And very often, a custodian you’ve gotten to know, and shown appreciation for, can find things you need, accessing resources you may not have known existed. They know people. They know the ins and outs of their environment. They can be very kind.

So all things being considered, I think the answer is yes, your editor is your cheerleader, because your editor is also the custodian of your text. It’s a multifaceted role, one that straddles multiple responsibilities and blends a little with coaching, a little with teaching, and a little with improving morale. By those measures, the editor’s role is even more important in a writer’s process. Especially when you have more than one… a team of editors is exponentially more powerful and useful.

But teaming up is a topic for another blog post.

A final note, or caveat: I am not an athlete by any means. The last time I played a sport was five minutes on the hockey rink in a student-teacher game during which I clutched my hockey stick and screamed any time the puck came near me, until I fell on the only part of my body without sufficient padding, my tailbone. So I’m not entirely sure why I ended up using sports as my analogy in this post, except that those words coach and cheerleader are inherently woven into the world of sports. If there is another analogy that could work more effectively, I would love to hear it!

Setting up The Talbot Trilogy

Full disclosure: I’m sore and tired today, in part from attempting to mow my lawn yesterday, as well as the emotional heft of preparing for the passing of our little Guinea pig, Caramel. Unfortunately, due to the poor air quality outside (thanks, forest fires) and my own bad physical condition, I couldn’t get the guineas into the garden as I had wanted. But at least I had brought a bit of wildflowers indoors, and I think Caramel had a bit of a nibble. She was, at least, comfortable and surrounded by love when her journey ended this afternoon. So I am copying and pasting what I have already added to my author page on FB. Hope that’s okay.

Sometimes I post on here and then copy part of it to Facebook. Reverse Uno!

Day Three of Pride month, and Day Three of celebrating the release of Wind and Shadow: Book One of the Talbot Trilogy, back in June 2013.

The Talbot Trilogy is actually a series of four books, but I prefer Trilogy because it consists of three full-length novels with a prequel novella.

Three more fun facts:

One reviewer noted in the early years after release that it’s really an urban adventure series, which I hadn’t intended or expected when I started writing about good witches vs evil vampires in Northeastern Ontario.

Besides my love for horror, the undead, and the lore of magick and witchcraft, the Talbot Trilogy was also inspired by Nora Roberts and her tendency to produce romances in trilogy formats.

And finally, most of the locations in the main novels and prequel novella are based on actual places in Ontario, including (in no specific order) Pearson International Airport, the Temagami Fire Tower, Mount Cheminis, the Classic Theatre in downtown Cobalt, 8 Prospect Avenue in Cobalt (a building with a head frame and a mineshaft within it, currently housing White Mountain Publications), 7 Prospect Avenue in Cobalt (a commercial property that has changed hands since 2013), Silverland Cemetery on King Street between Cobalt and North Cobalt, the bandshell at Haileybury Harbour Place, Temiskaming Hospital, Devil’s Rock, and the Grant Mansion in Haileybury. And, of course, the abandoned mine tunnels that honeycomb beneath the streets and residences of Cobalt, itself.

Why would I weave the battles between positive and malevolent forces among these real places, yet fictionalize them?

I wanted some freedom or poetic license to play with locations, but I also wanted to showcase a community that is special to me. It was a bit of a hope, too, that if my books became popular, it might help bring more tourism to Cobalt. 🙂 And there is also the general writing advice to develop a story around the familiar and known. Plus, there is so much potential for supernatural beings in a place filled with deep hiding spots, high cliffs, and beautiful old buildings!

On the potential of going back to graduate school

I had a really nice conversation with a credit card representative the other day… turned out that the young person is going through teacher’s college. We ended up talking for half an hour about the challenges of the profession, and I shared — summarizing as best as I could — what I had learned throughout my career, from my perspective in this relatively remote community and its specific demographics.

The representative was extremely kind and thoughtful, and at one point suggested that I consider reaching out to be a guest lecturer to his cohort of teacher candidates, or that I could apply to be a professor in the faculty of education at his Ontario university.

For a moment, I saw myself doing that.

It’s not the first time I have considered a career path in higher academic fields. I remember a moment, several years ago, when a colleague had suggested that I look into university-level teaching, and then told me how my face had lit up at the thought of completing a PhD and giving classes to undergraduate and graduate students.

I still would love to achieve a doctorate degree. I have wanted to have a PhD of my own, on my wall, since I was old enough to understand what it meant.

And it used to bother me greatly that I wasn’t as smart as the young prodigies who were able to race through high school. Through later elementary and high school, I struggled with insecurities regarding my intelligence, and I still have a hard time with the anxiety — feeling that a certain level of brainyness was supposed to be my identity, and that I was failing at it, not living up to expectations or standards, not even my own.

And yet I love to learn and I love to contribute to the body of knowledge belonging to humanity. I try to keep doing better as I know better.

And I am keenly aware of the cautionary tales about academia circulating in the world — stories of cliques and pressures involved with researching and writing and attending meetings while developing a thesis.

But in speaking with that teacher candidate the other day, the longing returned.

The good news is that if I do decide to go back to graduate school, especially if it is online (which I would prefer, given that I still have a child in secondary school and we live at least six hours away from any university that I could attend in person), I have had a taste of it and I know I could be successful.

Where I run into issues are these problems:

1) The anxiety reminding me that I could have made things easier had I chosen to complete a thesis as part of my PME, rather than going the coursework route at the time. It’s unfortunate, on one level, but not terrible — I would not mind doing a second master’s degree in a subject that I truly love.

2) Finding a program for a master’s degree that is decently rated or regarded, which is also doable in distance learning, and which would then lead into the PhD candidacy.

For example, I would dearly love to enter the program on folklore at Memorial U in Newfoundland. But it’s only offered in person. So I must wait.

3) Concerns about my energy levels and resiliency. No matter that kind of breakdown or burnout I experienced in 2019-2020, the general literature on these things suggests that it takes roughly 5 years on average to fully recover. I’m past the halfway point, but I still have many rough days, often in sequence, and I have to remember to be kind to myself and get enough rest. Do I have the physical stamina to get through two demanding sets of coursework and research, knowing that the second set will be even more rigorous and challenging?

Like the song says, you can’t always get what you want… so I must consider, what, out of these things, do I need?

One need is to add to bodies of knowledge, by putting my ideas out into the world. Publishing my thoughts, perspectives, research, and conclusions. What’s to stop me from setting myself a goal and sending work to an accredited journal?

And then, in a few years when the nest is thoroughly empty, maybe more graduate and post-grad programs will be available online, or I will be more able to travel. So maybe right now I am getting what I need in the sense of being able to rest as required. Any pressures I feel are entirely self-generated, and I am relearning — I must — how to manage them while coping with a brain chemistry that continues to insist on making everyday things seem more difficult than they actually are.

So I suppose, for the time being, I will keep the dream of a PhD in my pocket. And add the encouragements of others as they come along. The game isn’t over. It’s simply on pause.

Thanks for listening.

On Fictional Editors in Books and Film, and the Impressions They Give

It’s not a trope that we see very often, I think. In fact, in considering this topic, I was hard-pressed to come up with more than the following examples of movies involving editors of any kind as characters: The Proposal (2009), Never Been Kissed (1999), My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997), Julie & Julia (2009), The Devil Wears Prada (2006), and any of the Spider-Man movies involving J. Jonah Jameson.

The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) lists 70 titles involving book editors — yet only eight tagged with generic ‘editors’ as a keyword (none of them being Spider-Man?!?) — and I only really remember having watched one other on that list, The Holiday (2006).

I’m tempted to perform a deeper analysis, theorizing that literary editors (fiction and non) rarely appear as protagonists in narratives. I get the feeling that when they do appear as more than background or supporting characters, unless they’re involved in a life crisis, threatened by other-worldly or malevolent forces, or it’s a romance.

Note to self: still need to watch 1408 (2007).

Is it just me, or does literature and the media tend to paint the idea of being an editor as something that is … not exciting? As being valued support and/or controlling member of a writing team who tends to stay at the edges of the action, around whom flurries of activity revolve and to whom submissions are made for approval or denial?

I can see how that impression might exist. After all, the task of editing itself tends to be quite anchored, seeing as it involves (at minimum) poring over a document or footage of some kind to check for errors and fix mistakes. It’s not necessarily physical, unless an erasable, possibly magnetic board and removable notes are involved. Possibly a standing desk. And unless the editor is embedded within or leading a departmental team, the role is often shown to be fairly solitary and isolated by its very nature.

How many editor characters have been written and directed as being jaded, straight-laced, and even cruel in their decision-making and professional interactions? Alternatively, some have been developed as quirky, eccentric, overly kind, and eager to experience more, especially those characters who desire to make the leap from editor to writer, or assistant to full editing duties in service of producing excellent books and stories for the world.

How many of us can say we actually personally know a professional editor who can give us an accurate inside look at their lived individual experiences? Are the fictional editors of movies and literature in any way realistic depictions of the profession? Whether the characters are primary or secondary, what do they get right about the job and life of an editor, generally speaking? Is it even possible to generalize what it’s like to be an editor? Or are they idealizations based on the lived experiences of writers themselves?

In turn, how might the portrayals of editors in the various industries requiring them — newspapers, magazine, academic, and book publishers, manufacturing companies requiring production of clean internal documents, publicity firms, journals, etc. — have an impact on the growth and development of the field in the real world?

For example, what proportion of working editors today are BIPOC (AKA people of the global majority)? How many are women, or members of the LGBQT2S+ community? If the representation is indeed lacking of editor characters with these personal, cultural, ethnic, and/or spiritual backgrounds, as I suspect it is, then that’s deserving of attention. And so should be the development of editor characters who are whole, complex individuals rather than the stereotypes and caricatures that we may be accustomed to seeing in pages and on the silver screen.

I remember having a moment, back in teachers’ college, when a fellow student told me that they’d registered for the Teachers Writing Lives elective course, for the educator candidates who aspired to become authors while also in the classroom. I wished I’d taken the course at the time, and I kind of still do. From a basic Google search, it looks like similar courses exist today.

Because if we want to examine and then counter the negative patterns and impressions caused by the most common examples of fictional editors in books and movies, what better way than to pull from our own experiences, fellow editors of real-life Earth? And in so doing, use the narratives we both invent and recall as a means of deep reflection on our practices, our work-life balances, our incorporation of healthy lifestyle habits, our short- and long-term career goals, and a distinctly vital element, our networking.

Oh, that’s one other thing that I just realized is common to among the editor characters that I am aware of in books and films: they are, overwhelmingly, already successful in their professions. Where are the stories of aspiring, struggling, novice, and apprentice editors, other than Ryan Reynolds in The Proposal? Do we need more of those to help inspire the current and future generations who are drawn to correcting words and images, helping documents to shine?

Darned right, we do.

Editing is not an easy task, by any means. It can be as challenging as it is rewarding. One editor alone is lending their strength to a writer’s efforts in communicating their message; a team of editors working with solo or collective, collaborative writers are powerful entities, indeed. But we rarely see them, hidden away in offices and behind desks and boards and computer screens as they tend be.

And in this new era of ChatGPT and AI voicing, the role of the editor in polishing manuscripts is still significant. I don’t know about you, but when a congenial computer voice misreads or mispronounces something in an audiobook or a video, I’m willing to bet it’s because there was an uncaught or uncorrected error in the spelling, grammar, and/or punctuation that the artificial intelligence took literally. And it drives me up the wall. But again, maybe that’s just me.

Cheers, fellow editors. I see you, and I salute you.

When I get my business plan done, I think I’m going to make myself a hoodie emblazoned with EDITOR. Just because I can. And editors are awesome, no matter how they’re portrayed in fiction.

Thanks for reading! And please, feel free to tell me your favourite or most memorable experiences with editing or editors in the comments below. Change names to protect the innocent as needed, of course.

On Fictional Writers of Fiction, and the Impressions They Give

When I get to turning over ideas for the two works-in-progress and other story ideas lurking in my files, sometimes I have to remind myself of the general advice, “write what you know”. And this makes sense, of course, because if you want to composing plots and characters that are realistic and recognizable, you need those details.

But sometimes I want to just follow my imagination into times and places where I’ve never been. That means taking the time to gather details — learning what is not known.

During that process, I find myself wishing for an assistant or two who might be able to seek out certain nuggets of information for me, either in anticipation of a plot development or to help solve a problem. Alas, having not yet achieved best-seller status at the time of this writing, hiring an assistant is beyond my means. And that’s all right, I really don’t mind doing research.

And neither does Rick Castle, the fictional writer played by Nathan Fillion in the eponymous series that ran from 2009 to 2016.

Among the fictional writers of fiction that are portrayed on the screen and in written works, I think Castle is my favourite. Emma Thompson in Stranger Than Fiction (2006) might be a close second. Her struggles with writers’ block resonate powerfully, of course, and I definitely appreciate her angst while she tries to figure out her next steps.

But it’s Castle’s enthusiasm for the writing process and his willingness to dive into various forms of research (mainly, in the series, shadowing a particular detective and her colleagues, but also performing interviews, learning new skills, and making notes all along the way) that I find highly appealing.

He has a gorgeous office in his loft penthouse apartment (see pictures below, featured in setdecorators.org and found on Everyday Planet, posted by Jenny and Christie Childers in “Inspiration from Castle: Richard Castle’s Office, January 17, 2014 — I highly recommend checking out their page for more images!). His sumptuous yet practical living and working accommodations are paid for by his previously successful series of books, eventually adding an awesome computerized massive whiteboard to his set of tools, yet he typically writes with his feet up and his laptop on his lap. I don’t have a loft, a great big oaken desk, or a tablet of any size (save my mobile phone), but the feet up and laptop warming my legs — that’s a habit that I tend to follow. It’s a bad one, too, not great for my sciatica or my posture, so I am trying to get back to using my desk. And following another of his examples by recording plot points and character ideas on sticky notes.

I’m going to echo Christy and Jenny on Everyday Planet, here… So. Many. Books!

Sometimes a fictional writer, perhaps by virtue of being developed by other writers, demonstrates some really great ways to get things done.

In Stranger Than Fiction, Emma Thompson’s character, Karen Eiffel, sometimes attempts to sink deeper into understanding her protagonist or a given situation by acting out the problem, unashamedly and with full commitment.

When that doesn’t work, her agent sends writing coach* Penny Escher (played beautifully by Queen Latifah) to help her work through the issues that are slowing her process. Penny’s strategies are varied, but the one that has always stuck out in my mind is checking to see whether Karen has received or procured fresh, new paper, which might cause some inspiration.

A decidedly uncluttered, and therefore distraction-free, working environment. No less elegant, or clean, though! Image source: iloveemmathompson.com

Her choice to use a typewriter is interesting — how many of us still go old-school mechanical, even if it’s electric? Image source: iloveemmathompson.com

Even though Penny calls herself an assistant to the author, in my mind, she’s a coach. End of story. Image source: The Creator’s Apprentice

For a lovely and in-depth analysis of the film, I recommend reading Ellen Huang’s piece “Stranger Than Fiction & Meeting Our Maker” on the blog The Creator’s Apprentice: the spirituality of stories.

***

In my experience, there seem to be two main types of fictional writers of fiction:

a) those who are wildly successful but struggling to get the next set of words down, for a variety of reasons that can run from simple lack of inspiration to psychosis or insanity, and

b) those who are ready to be successful, with completed manuscripts of varying lengths, but who are lacking a publisher or an agent to give them attention.

One example of the latter (sort-of) is blogger Julie Powell (Amy Adams) in 2009’s Julie & Julia. Her frustration, which bleeds into and affects her marriage, comes in part from living as inexpensively as possible in New York City while also working a regular job. Now, we do need to recognize that Julie Powell was a real person, who sadly left this world in 2022 — damn you, Covid-19). So whether the character in the movie might truly fit the category of a fictional writer of fiction is debatable. But her experience, as depicted in the film, really stands out in my mind as being far more realistic and recognizable than that of Rick Castle. After all, consider the contrast between the numbers of hugely successful authors, on which his character is partly based, and the multitude of aspiring and struggling writers who are getting by while waiting on their big break.

What’s shown in fiction is pulled, to some extent, from reality. The degree to which imagination is involved can depend on the situation, the genre, and any number of other factors. Sometimes the fictional writer of fiction, like many protagonists, might give us what is likely unrealistic goals. But maybe the point is having those goals in the first place. And even if Rick Castle or Karen Eiffel aren’t real people, they were created by those who have similar experiences and processes and have been successful with them. In that sense, could these and other like characters become, on some level, like writing coaches themselves?

Now I am debating a rewatch of Castle from the beginning, to jot down the techniques and methods that I find intriguing or remind myself of what I have used before. I never did watch the final season of the show, actually … and shoot, I loaned the first disc to a friend sometime back in 2018.

Victoria B. provides a decent initial breakdown of Castle’s process here, in her post “4 Things I Learned About Writing From Rick Castle“. But I remember having gotten more specific when teaching in-person Writer’s Craft classes, and there is more to cull from the series, if I take the time to do so.

Another branch of this thought to follow is whether there are many interesting fictional portrayals of editors in books and film. Of course, The Proposal (2009) revolves around two characters in the editing industry, but we see very little of them actually at work. I may have to dive into that search tomorrow … maybe while Rick Castle is pestering Kate Beckett on the screen.

What are your (or your family’s or friends’) impressions of fictional writers of fiction in literature and media?

If you tell someone you’re a writer, do they start to assume you’re in type a), or type b)?

Have you consciously or unconsciously modelled your own working process after one of these characters?

Tell me all about it in the comments below. 🙂