learning to edit

There’s this common misconception that the world of editing (in the sense of submitting your story to a magazine or contest) is an absolute puzzle constantly being shifted around by angry and jaded editors. In classes, writing groups, and even among non-writers, I hear it repeated that you have to have this unknowable combination of luck and talent to land a spot in a magazine, and it isn’t worth trying or learning. You got it or you don’t.

But that type of thinking leaves most people without it.

I want to say that in my years as a reader, judge, and developmental editor none of that is true. Especially about editors. We’re not shadowed goblins lying in wait to crush every writers’ dream. The reason we got into this line of work is because we want to hear a good story, a new story. We want to be entertained.

I’m glad I’ve got enough students for the Editing 101 online class that starts tonight, but I’d love a couple more. Mention reading this when you mail me about the class and I’ll give you a special deal. 😉

So what do we do and who is the class aimed at?

The class is aimed both at writers who want to learn to edit their work better as well as editors who want to hone their skills and learn about it as a career path.

Here’s what the three two-hour sessions cover. They’re spaced two weeks apart.

1. Developmental edit. I describe my revision process and how people can adapt it to their own. We look at examples of developmental edits, work through a checklist of items to look for, and talk about developing your own theory and process of editing.
2. Line and copyediting. I look at things on the sentence and paragraph level and supply a number of examples as well as working through an in-class exercise. Again, I try to provide a checklist that you can take away and use in your writing and editing.
3. Editors. I talk about working as an editor, and what resources are available to people who are looking for such work, as well as where people looking for slush-reading positions can find them. I also discuss the writer-editor relationship in a way that should clarify it for both sides of the equation and provide tips on making that process work more smoothly. A class exercise is designed to help you figure out story order for collections, chapbooks, anthologies, and magazine issues.

Got questions? I’d be happy to answer them.