The Editing Process

This week, I’m passing over to my brother (and collaborator) George, who has been working with me for almost two years, and will be helping me manage this newsletter going forward. I hope you find the following valuable. Mary x

Hello everyone,

Thank you to Mary for inviting me to write this guest post.

I spent the first fifteen years of my career working as a book editor at various publishing companies in London and Scotland.

Mary and I have many parallels in our work, as the book and music industries both grapple with immense change and an increasingly DIY mentality.

Frustrated at being told to stay in my lane at one company, I decided that I could do it just as well on my own, and set up my own indie publisher, which I ran for three years and sold early last year.

These days I work with Mary as her producer, so she can focus on creating, as well as driving the company forward.

It’s often very difficult to step back and be truly objective about the quality of your own work. An editor’s job, simply put, is to help the writer do the very best they can. That might be really hands-on structural rewrites, or it might just involve gently guiding them in the direction they were always headed.

It’s an intimate collaboration, based on trust. When the work is done well, it’s invisible. You have to be free from ego, knowing that your name is not the one on show. You have to be the author’s greatest ally and champion, but also the one to be prepared to ask the most difficult questions.

The legendary record producer Rick Rubin’s credits on albums are sometimes listed as ‘Reduced by’ Rick Rubin, and I’ve always thought that’s a very elegant way of describing the editor’s role. 

Sometimes the best way to improve a work is to make the author realise that it’s really two separate ideas, trying to be jammed together when the pieces don’t fit. That’s equally applicable to music.

Editorial advice should always be offered, but never forced upon the writer. If you respond well to criticism, then you can feed off each other’s energy and enthusiasm. But if you’re resistant to changes of any kind, then you – and your work – will never reach the heights you could have.

Not all editorial comments should be taken on board of course. But sometimes a challenge will make you reflect on a part you might not have considered before. The bestselling historical/thriller novelist, Ken Follett, when asked about his editors said, ‘they may be mistaken about what is wrong, but if they comment then something is wrong.’

Feedback from friends and family can be helpful, but if they’re pulling their punches to try and spare your feelings, or avoid conflict, then it’s not useful, and might even be counterproductive.

So, ask yourself – am I receptive to change? Who can I trust to truly tell me how it is? And rather than add more, what can I take away?

George

Independent Artist of the week: Formed in July 2022, Driving Blue are a five-piece band from Dublin. Their new single, Saturday Night is out now. Gorgeous soulful vocals with a Blues-Rock backing. Check them out.

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