Editing a First Novel
Reviewing and editing Jake Doe Burning Bright was very much a family affair. I didn’t hire a professional editor until very late in the process, because I wanted to own every passage, every word. I wanted to learn and grow as a writer, and editor myself, as I waded back over the story and the pages many, many times.
My sweet sister and my parents were essential to my process. I referred to my sister as the tip of the editing spear in the book’s first acknowledgment. That’s a difficult job! They all caught mistakes and challenged a few choices I made in telling the story that a part of me already knew were risky. Their input along the way was invaluable. My Dad’s vision doesn’t allow him to read much any more, so we’d have a read-aloud session of an especially difficult passage or scene. He would, without fail, jump in and challenge a word choice or a phrase. And then after a minute or two, he’d have an idea that was almost always better than my choice. Truly amazing doing that without seeing the words!
Jake Doe Burning Bright: My early reading crew!
My three adult sons all have busy lives but were supportive and instrumental as well.
Number one reviewed an early draft of the first three chapters and incisively exposed my weaknesses as a writer. I vowed to learn and improve. He did me a big favor. Meanwhile, number two provided steady and positive encouragement as he’s prone to do. He was working on his own exciting personal project, so I was able to offer the same back to him.
Then there was number three, a mere nineteen years old and a freshman in college, who had too many fun and exciting things going on to give much attention to his old Dad’s novel. But when he did, he came at me like a guitar soloist in front of a packed stadium. He challenged the authenticity of character dialogue, caught mistakes everyone else had missed, suggested radical changes in punctuation, and even convinced me—very late in the game—to change where one chapter ended and another one began. He was right on just about every suggestion. Incredible. He would make a fantastic book editor one day but instead is majoring in Physics. Another one of those math science kids…
So the Trimble family all pitched in and helped bring the book to life. And my former sister-in-law, a published writer and kind soul, also reviewed a couple of sections I was worried about.Her best advice? Invest in a professional editor.
Creating the book together with all these loved ones was fun.