How to Edit and Be Edited: A Guide for Writers and Editors

by Allegra Huston

Overview

Too many writers suffer under friendly fire. Too many pros are ground down by unhelpful supervision. How to Edit and Be Edited is the first book to set out the principles of constructive editing--how to provide it, and how to obtain it from those who read your work.

An editor and film development executive for over 30 years, Allegra Huston has worked with writers including two Nobel Prize winners, three Booker Prize winners, and Jane Goodall. As the author of the bestselling memoir Love Child and the novel A Stolen Summer, as well as numerous screenplays and magazine articles, she has worked with editors and development executives across the spectrum. In this concise guide, she shares techniques that energize and inspire the writer, clarify problems and foster a strong working relationship.

"The Twice 5 Miles guides How to Read for an Audience and How to Edit and Be Edited should be required reading for all writers and editors, as well as all creative writing teachers and students. Both books are bursting with outstanding insights and fresh ideas. I wish I had had both of them years ago, and they've changed the way I think about reading in front of an audience and reading the work of other writers. And as a bonus, they're written in prose so accomplished and excellent, they're a lesson in itself on How to Write a Brilliant Writing Guide. Whether you're a newbie beginner or a well-seasoned pro or somewhere in between, these books will make you a better editor, reader, and writer." --Kate Christensen, PEN/Faulkner Award-winning novelist and former teacher at Iowa Writers Workshop

"Deft, clear and charming, without a wasted word. The series, which might as well be subtitled 'things writers are too embarrassed to ask about, ' promises to immediately fill a tremendous need in the lives of those of who still live and die by the book." " --Jonathan Lethem, NYT bestselling novelist and Roy E. Disney '51 Chair in Creative Writing, Pomona College

"An indispensable tool for students in terms of learning how to respond to fellow writers in a workshop setting. This is a very valuable book."--Sue William Silverman, novelist and memoirist, faculty member at Vermont College of Fine Arts

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780985752866
Publisher:	Twice 5 Miles
Publication date:	12/23/2019
Series:	The Stuff Nobody Teaches You
Edition description:	(Previously Titled How to Work with a Writer) ed.
Pages:	100
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.00(h) x 0.21(d)

About the Author

Allegra Huston has published two highly acclaimed books: Love Child: A Memoir of Family Lost and Found, and the novel A Stolen Summer. She is also the author of "Forgiveness Through Writing," a course available at DailyOm, and numerous magazine articles and screenplays. For over 30 years she has worked as an editor for major publishing houses in London and New York, including six years as Editorial Director of Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London. Authors she has worked with include two Nobel Prize winners, three Booker Prize winners, Sir James Goldsmith, and Jane Goodall. Allegra wrote and produced the award-winning short film Good Luck, Mr. Gorski, and spent two years as development consultant for the British film company Pathé. She has conducted creative writing workshops for the University of Oklahoma, the National University of Ireland, Galway, the Taos Writers Conference, and the UK's Arvon Foundation, and now teaches a yearly five-day course on memoir writing. She holds a First Class Honours degree in English Language and Literature from Hertford College, Oxford. Please visit allegrahuston.com. "I've experienced the editing process from both sides, and those experiences have ranged from thrilling to devastating. I've learned for myself what works and what doesn't. Following these simple principles will save both you and the writer a lot of upset, confusion, and miscommunication."

Table of Contents

Contents

The value of editing

Ground rules

The rookie mistake

The two basic rules of editing

Talking with the writer

Making notes as you read

General issues to consider

Trust

Tone

Pacing

Narrative line

Beginnings and endings

Completeness

Style

Excess material

What to look for in specific kinds of writing

Fiction and memoir

Screenplays and stage plays

Books for young readers

Nonfiction

History

Polemic

Science

Cooking, gardening, other how-to books

Self-help

Magazine articles

Business/nonprofit documents

Poetry

For professionals

Book/magazine editors and literary agents

Film/TV producers and development executives

Business/nonprofit executives

For writers

Editing yourself

Writing groups

Creative writing courses

Finding a good editor

Asking friends and family to read your work

For informal readers

Further reading

Editorial Reviews

"How to Edit and Be Edited is a book I would give to every editor. There is no formal training for editors--experience and example are their only guides, until now. It is a book every publishing house should press into the hands of their young editors as they set out on learning a skill that involves such subtlety, empathy, strength and understanding. It will swiftly become an indispensable handbook for editors everywhere." -- Alexandra Pringle, Editor-in-Chief, Bloomsbury Publishing

"As a first-time author with a major publishing house, I feared the editing process would be a cross between a tax audit and exploratory surgery. Fortune smiled upon me when my manuscript was edited by Allegra Huston, for it became an inspirational conversation between a novice and a consummate professional with decades of experience as an editor and, more importantly, as a writer herself. What The Elements of Style is for writers, this slim, information-packed volume will be for editors in all creative fields." -- Brian Keating, author of Losing the Nobel Prize and Professor of Cosmology at the University of California, San Diego

"Bursting with outstanding insights and fresh ideas . . . Should be required reading for all writers and editors, as well as all creative writing teachers and students." -- Kate Christensen, PEN/Faulkner Award-winning novelist and former teacher at Iowa Writers Workshop

"I've taught for years, but the lessons in How to Edit and Be Edited are still very useful for those of us who teach or edit a lot, as well as for those who are new to the game. It is also an indispensable tool for students in terms of learning how to respond to fellow writers in a workshop setting. This is a very valuable book." -- Sue William Silverman, novelist and memoirist, faculty member at Vermont College of Fine Arts

"Deft, clear and charming, without a wasted word. The series, which might as well be subtitled 'things writers are too embarrassed to ask about, ' promises to immediately fill a tremendous need in the lives of those of who still live and die by the book." -- Jonathan Lethem, NYT bestselling novelist and Roy E. Disney '51 Chair in Creative Writing at Pomona College

From the Publisher