The internet’s filled with people’s
infinitely varying opinions on every subject imaginable (and a few
beyond imagination, I’m sure). The definition of a good editor
remains subject to those opinions; but I tend to agree with one
claiming a good editor serves as an advocate for readers, and that’s
a fair if broad summary. In my experience a good editor serves as an
advocate on behalf of three masters: the reader, the publisher, and
the author. This assumes one agrees editors still have a relevant
place in today’s Internet Age where people far too often assume a
spell- and grammar-check program is enough to ensure intelligible and
clear communication in e-mails, blogs, and even published newspapers,
magazines, and books. In a time of relatively easy self publishing
enabled by computers and the internet, many talented individuals
possess the sense of professionalism to produce solid work for free
or for pay without the need for an entire editorial team and art
department a publisher offers.
Editors primarily seek to finesse an
author’s manuscript into a format easily appreciated and
comprehended by the intended audience. This includes the obligatory
adherence to consistent rules of spelling, grammar, and style, plus a
good deal of moderating the language, varying word choice, and
otherwise helping to shape a manuscript into an engaging piece of
reading. But editors also represent a publisher in molding
manuscripts to fit a professional objective encompassing subject
matter, production schedule, and future projects. To this end editors
also serve authors as guides in the writing process and in improving
skills for future submissions. Publishers often need writers for
upcoming projects; the more proven authors available, the better the
choices in matching writers to assignments.
The letter below represents perhaps the
best aspect of my work as editor of West End Games’ Star Wars
Adventure Journal in the mid-1990s. I keep it to remind myself
that – despite a host of game supplements I loved writing and
developing, all the interesting people I met, and all the fantastic
gaming experiences I enjoyed during five years with West End – I’m
most satisfied I made a small yet positive difference in the lives of
many young people and aspiring writers who might otherwise not
bothered exploring their potential:
Dear Mr. Schweighofer,
A few months ago I submitted a short story to you…. Upon rejecting
my story, you wrote me a three and a half page letter explaining why
it was not up to the standards of the Star Wars Adventure Journal.
I thank you for that. You see, it would have been just as easy for
you to have sent me a form letter, but instead you paid close
attention to what needed improving in my story and in my writing in
general.
When I first received your letter I must admit that I was crushed.
Writing for Star Wars meant – and still means – a great
deal to me. I put the letter away for a while without reading the
whole thing, the weight of the rejection pressed on me so hard that
reading criticism felt like it would have caused a collapse of my
confidence in my writing ability. A few days later I mustered up the
strength to read the letter through. I resisted some of the points,
but others were too clear to be denied. As time passed my bias
against the other points faded and they were like crystal as well.
Soon after, I began to look at the letter as a tool, something to
help me see my weaknesses as a writer clearer. At about the same time
my quest to locate a copy of Damon Knight’s Creating Short
Fiction bore fruit, and the art of writing became more
transparent to me. I am still in the process of learning. I write
every day, and upon reading that writing the next day I blush and
write something better, which I blush at a day later. I thank you a
thousand times for rejecting [my story]. I realize its weaknesses
more and more each day and I wonder how I could have considered
submitting it. However, I know at the time it was the best I could do
and I respect that. It was an important step for me as a writer, made
all the more important by a compassionate editor who paid attention
to a 19 year old kid struggling to forge himself into a writer.
I write you this letter so that the next time you receive a rough
story from someone struggling to become a writer you might share
with them the insight you shared with me (and keep on recommending
Mr. Knight’s book, it is excellent). Thank you for your time, and
know that this isn’t the last piece of my writing you will lay your
eyes upon. Good luck and continued success with the Adventure
Journal (it is fabulous).
The letter arrived in my West End
Games’ office in December 1995, about halfway through my
all-too-brief career with the company; I cannot recall if we actually
published any of the writer’s later work, and I don’t know if the
author continued his writing aspirations afterward. I’m grateful I
found the time and motivation to write short critiques even of the
material I rejected; in many cases it later bore fruit in the form of
far more polished submissions that found their way to publication.
Those short stories, source material articles, and game adventures
that ultimately appeared in the Star Wars Adventure Journal
endured far more scrutiny and much longer critique letters. All these
efforts supported my editorial role in advocating for the interests
of readers, the publisher, and authors in the name of engaging
writing.
That same work ethic – spending time
working with authors not simply to improve the project at hand but
their overall abilities for future assignments – gave other writers
guidance for improving their work later reflected in other mainstream
West End projects. I recall spending an hour or so with an author at
GenCon discussing a hard critique of a rough manuscript for a sector
setting sourcebook; he was a fan, not a writer (though a talented
professional in another field) who many years later went on to
contribute to both Wizards of the Coast’s and Fantasy Flight Games’
subsequent iterations of a Star Wars roleplaying game.
Few professional
editors have this kind of time, especially when faced with massive
slush piles of submissions or a huge backlog of manuscripts awaiting
their editorial attention
in the often rushed process to bring material to publication. I’m
grateful I had both the time and the position to evaluate writers’
work and offer some small
guidance in improving their craft; I hope many have continued
exploring their potential as writers, especially given the far more
numerous outlets for their work in an Internet Age enabling many to
disseminate their writing to a broad audience. Thanks to social media
I occasionally encounter someone who says something like, “My
proudest moment trying to break into the industry was my rejection
letter from the SWAJ,”
or “Do you remember that submission I
made to the Adventure Journal
years ago?” I’m
humbled that I
have in some
small way contributed to their further work as fans or professionals
in the adventure gaming hobby, from fanzines to freelancing and
beyond.
I suppose at heart I have a large
teaching streak in me; I’ve often considered, and quickly set
aside, the prospect of becoming a professional teacher. At various
points in my past I’ve tried encouraging people to pursue their
interest in writing through editorial critique letters, workshops for
young people, and other publication-related activities. I don’t
believe everyone’s a New York Times-bestselling author, but
I think anyone with an interest in writing deserves a chance – and
a little encouragement – to explore the craft and engage their
creativity.
Lately, thanks to contacts in social
networking, I’ve considered contacting people with promising game
ideas and offering to develop, edit, and produce their work. I’ve
not followed through much; I suppose I’m wary of working to publish
other people’s gaming projects when many of my own sit on the back
burner thanks to my lack of time, focus, and energy given my
full-time parental duties. I’ve done a little editorial consulting,
an endeavor I might pursue more in the future; the entire editorial
critique process seems much easier in a world with e-mail and online
face-to-face conferencing instead of printing out letters to send off
in the post. I realize I miss working with authors to further develop
and refine their ideas and presentation with an eye to bringing a
project to publication and (hopefully) appreciation by a growing fan
readership. It’s easier with the backing of a brick-and-mortar
professional publishing house (and a world-famous intellectual
property license); but for now I’m content that my past editorial
work and the few people it inspired remains a small candle to sustain
me.
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