On Craft--"Easy Reading is Damn Hard Writing"

I finished an editorial letter today and then, of course, sent it on to my author and thus sent her on her revision journey; and for the very first time. She's my favorite kind of author, a debut. So everything is for the very first time. Sending an editorial letter off is a very satisfying feeling for an editor, partly because it means we've finished something on our very long "To Do" list, but also because an editorial letter encompasses one of our favorite pastimes--talking about literature and the craft of literature. What I love about this particular author's writing is how fluid it is. Her novel is such an engrossing read, mostly because of how competent and enjoyable the writing is. In some editorial letters, I often discuss the use of language, noting whether the writing is wordy or generally overwritten or hard to parse through (it's common even with the best writers; language sometimes needs to be reigned in or specifically crafted; this is the nitty gritty of line editing), but in this editorial letter there was no direct commentary on the author's writing at all. She is a writer with impressive and enviable sentence level control. Every writer has their strengths, and this is one of hers.

So then if I didn't actually comment on the writing, what was the content of this author's editorial letter, you may wonder?. Exactly. The very crux of this post. Finishing this particular author's editorial letter reminded me craft isn't just about the writing style or how sentences come together. Craft is everything. It's characterization, character relationships, scene development, pacing, timeline, plot points, it's everything. So in this particular editorial letter, I provided feedback and suggestions for my author on characterization: were characters nuanced enough? Where they consistently developed? Did character relationships make sense? Did plot points feel credible? Were plot points rushed? Did the climax resonate? Did the passage of time feel organic? And what happens when the timeline doesn't, in fact, resonate? Perhaps instead of a five-year timeline, we should consider a two-year timeline. Does a certain character appear enough? Do we have clarity on the protagonist's character growth? Engaging these questions is also craft and these questions are why the writing process isn't just a one person job. Craft takes multiple eyes and perspectives to get right. I know my dear author has the answers to all these questions locked in her head and her heart. Knowing her I bet I could correctly guess at a lot of these answers, but I also know that this author, as authors always do, believe wholeheartedly that these answers are already on the page. It won't be until this author reads and then reads again my editorial letter and sees my notes on the manuscript page that she'll begin to understand that either these answers are not on the page or they are far too subtle and need heightening.

Subtlety and heightening are words I use often in giving editorial feedback. Subtlety and heightening are also about craft and what's on the page versus what's not.Sometimes the germ of needed character nuance is on the page--mentioned once on page three never to be heard from again. That nuance is then too subtle and needs heightening--needs more consistent development throughout the narrative. Sometimes a plot thread or point is so heightened it reads implausibly, too over-the-top and what it needs is more subtlety.

Craft isn't just the writing; it's everything. It's knowing when to push something to the fore and when to pull back on something. It's knowing when too little or too much of a character is on the page. It's finding the right calibration of details. It's understanding how to knit together a narrative in a way that leads up to a climax that feels organic and credible and tense. Craft is an incredible tightrope act and the writer has to know when to let go and when to steel herself and hold on. Craft is about making everything feel effortless so that the reader isn't aware of how it was even done, only that you did it--you took their breath away.

I loved writing today's editorial letter. I'm already foaming at the mouth to read the next draft. I can't wait to see the answers to my questions on the page. I can't wait to see seamless craft at work. So today's craft thought? Here's a quote from the Nathaniel Hawthorne that the venerable Maya Angelou recently repeated that should pretty much sum it up: Easy reading is damn hard writing.