The Vital Relationship Between Editor and Writer

My next two posts contain the text of a talk I gave to the Cosmopolitan Club in New York City in late June 2011. The subject was the vital relationship between editor and writer. First half of text follows:


MY MISSION TODAY IS TO GIVE YOU SOME INSIGHT INTO THE EDITOR/WRITER RELATIONSHIP, WHICH I BELIEVE IS STILL VITAL AND STILL NECESSARY, BUT AS ENDANGERED, I’M AFRAID, AS SILENCE IN THE LIBRARY.

BUT FIRST, IF YOU’LL ALLOW ME TO DIGRESS A LITTLE, I WOULD LIKE TO PUT THIS RELATIONSHIP INTO CONTEXT, WHICH IS THE CURRENT STATE OF THE BOOK BUSINESS IN AMERICA. I’M SURE MR. ROSENTHAL COVERED THE SUBJECT IN HIS TALK LAST WEEK, SO FORGIVE ANY REPETITION. TO PUT IT BRIEFLY, THE BOOK BUSINESS AND ALL ITS PRACTICIONERS ARE IN FERMENT.

ON THE ONE HAND, WE ALL KNOW THAT THE INTERNET HAS CHANGED THE WAY WE READ. IN A WORLD OF BLOGS, WEBSITES AND SOCIAL NETWORKS (ALL SHORT FORM READING), LONG FORM READING—BOOKS, MOSTLY--SEEMS AS DOOMED AS THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH. I CERTAINLY AGREE THAT WE NOW LIVE IN A FRAGMENTED, SHORT ATTENTION-SPANNED ELECTRONIC WORLD, AND EVEN THOSE OF US WHO GREW UP READING BOOKS FIND LESS AND LESS TIME TO SIT DOWN WITH A GOOD READ. I MYSELF CAN WASTE AN ENTIRE DAY PLAYING AROUND ON THE INTERNET, BUYING STUFF, LOOKING UP STUFF, READING GOSSIP ON GAWKER. LATEST STATS SAY LESS THAN 50% OF THE READING PUBLIC HAVE PICKED UP A BOOK IN A YEAR. SOME SAY OUR LONG FORM READING OF THE FUTURE WILL CONSIST OF COMPUTER-GENERATED ADVERTISING SLOGANS. (HOW GHASTLY TO CONTEMPLATE!)

AT THE SAME TIME, MORE BOOKS ARE BEING PUBLISHED. I FOUND THREE DIFFERENT REFERENCES TO THE NUMBER OF CURRENT BOOKS PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED STATES. THE NUMBERS RANGE FROM 500,000 TO 1,000,000, WHICH INDICATES HOW LITTLE THE BOOK BUSINESS KNOWS ABOUT ITSELF, BUT EVEN IF WE TAKE THE LOWER FIGURE, THE PUBLISHING OUTPUT IS EXTRAORDINARY TO THE POINT OF BEING RIDICULOUS. AND NEW GADGETS LIKE EBOOKS AND TABLETS ARE PROVIDING MORE VENUES FOR READING. HOW TO EXPLAIN THIS PARADOX(LESS LONG FORM READING BY THE AMERICAN PUBLIC, BUT WITH THOUSANDS MORE BOOKS AVAILABLE AND MORE PLATFORMS TO READ THEM ON) HAS YET TO BE EXPLAINED CLEARLY TO ME.

I’VE COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT SELF-PUBLISHED BOOKS (WHAT USED TO BE KNOWN AS VANITY PUBLISHING) ARE A BIG PART OF THE PROBLEM. CONSIDERED LEGIT TODAY, MANY SELF-PUBLISHING COMPANIES HAVE SPRUNG UP THAT WILL TAKE YOUR WORK, PUT IT INTO BOOK FORM, ADD A JACKET AND HELP YOU DISTRIBUTE IT. HAVE WE COME TO AN ERA WHERE THERE ARE NOW MORE WRITERS THAN READERS? WHERE ONCE UPON A TIME GRANDDAD WROTE A STORY ABOUT HIS LIFE AND WITH THE HELP OF A LOCAL PRINTER DISTRIBUTED A FEW SOFT-COVERED TOMES FOR HIS GRANDCHILDREN’S EYES ONLY, TODAY THERE ARE MEMOIR-WRITING WORKSHOPS ASSURING STUDENTS THAT THE ENTIRE WORLD IS WAITING BREATHLESSLY FOR THE STORY OF THEIR LIVES. IN ADDITION, WHAT I CALL LITERARY JUNK FOOD--HOW TO’S, INSPIRATIONALS, ROMANCES, CHRISTIAN MYSTERIES, CELEBRITY MEMOIRS, GENERAL PULP FICTION—HAVE INCREASED EXPONENTIALLY, UNTIL ONE IS FORCED TO AGREE WITH TRUMAN CAPOTE, WHO FAMOUSLY REMARKED, “THAT’S NOT WRITING; THAT’S TYPING!”

I’M GOING TO TAKE THE HIGHROAD AND BET THAT THIS PERPLEXING SITUATION WILL SORT ITSELF OUT. I’M GOING TO BELIEVE THAT OUR LEADERS OF TOMORROW--THE GEN X’S, THE MILLENNIUMS, ALL THOSE UNDER 40’S-- WILL SOONER OR LATER BECOME BORED WITH THE DAILY AVALANCHE OF ELECTRONIC OUTPOURINGS, MOSTLY DUBIOUS, AND RETURN TO THE IMMENSE PLEASURE OF READING SENSIBLE IDEAS, IN SOLITUDE, IN TRANQUIL SETTINGS. MY ENDANGERED PROFESSION, REQUIRING NURTURING, EDITING, MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION OF BOOKS, WILL ONCE MORE FLOURISH. AND MY PROFESSION, EDITING QUALITY BOOKS, WILL NOT SEEM SO LONELY, SO CONFINED TO THE BACKWATERS OF THE INFORMATION INDUSTRY.

BECAUSE TODAY, ALONG WITH THE DUMBING DOWN OF LITERATURE, THE DOWNSIZING OF PUBLISHING HOUSES, THE TAKING ON OF FEWER WORKS BY PUBLISHERS, PARTICULARLY THOSE WORKS THAT WILL REQUIRE TIME FOR THE AUTHOR TO CATCH ON, THERE ARE VERY FEW REALLY GOOD EDITORS LEFT. SO I NEED TO KEEP TELLING MYSELF THAT THIS VITAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EDITOR AND WRITER, WHILE IN DEEP TROUBLE, LIKE THE REST OF THE INDUSTRY, IS STILL EDDYING AROUND IN OUR OWN SMALL BACKWATERS.

I GREW UP BELIEVING THAT EDITORS WERE RELATIVES OF GOOD ENGLISH TEACHERS—THOSE FACT CHECKERS FOR MANKIND—AND AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE PUBLISHING PROCESS. AN EDITOR DID NOT NEED TO JUST KNOW WORLD LITERATURE, BUT TO KNOW LIFE AS WELL. EDITORS WERE SCHOLARS, INTIMATE WITH THE CLASSICS, AS WELL AS HAVING A MORE THAN CASUAL INTEREST IN STANDARD ENGLISH USAGE. I WAS TAUGHT HOW TO DIAGRAM SENTENCES, FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE!

LUCKILY, HISTORY HAS PROVIDED US WITH A FEW EDITORS WHOM THOSE OF US STILL CARRYING THE FLAG CAN REVERE AND LEARN FROM. PROBABLY THE MOST FAMOUS, MAX PERKINS OF SCRIBNER, AN EDITOR SO FAMOUS HE HAS HIMSELF BEEN BIOGRAPHED, GATHERED UP THOMAS WOLFE’S TONS OF TYPESCRIPT, CUT 90,000 WORDS, AND PRODUCED A LITERARY MASTERPIECE CALLED LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL.

PERKINS ALSO WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN PERSUADING THE SUITS TO KEEP HEMINGWAY’S PROFANITY IN HIS WORKS. THIS WAS A FIRST, AND EVEN THOUGH PERKINS WAS A GENTLEMAN, HE KNEW WHAT STREET TALK SOUNDED LIKE. IT WASN’T STANDARD ENGLISH. BUT IT WAS A NECESSARY ELEMENT OF MODERNISM,SO HE STOOD UP TO THE MORE PRUDISH. AND HE HELPED A REJECT CALLED THE ROMANTIC EGOIST BECOME THIS SIDE OF PARADISE.

IN MORE RECENT TIMES, DIANA ATHILL, THE ENGLISH EDITOR WHO WROTE STET ABOUT HER 50 YEARS EDITING JEAN RHYS AND V. S. NAIPAUL AMONG OTHERS, WAS A BOON TO SOME REALLY DIFFICULT WRITERS. SHE WAS QUOTED AS SAYING SHE LOVED EDITING NAIPAUL BUT WAS GLAD SHE DIDN’T HAVE TO LIVE WITH HIM. AND ROBERT LOOMIS, SOON TO RETIRE FROM RANDOM HOUSE AT 85, HAS LONG BEEN RESPECTED FOR HIS GUIDANCE AND ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE LIKES OF MAYA ANGELOU AND WILLIAM STYRON.

AMONG THE YOUNGER, RESPECTED EDITORS TODAY IS MICHAEL PIETSCH OF LITTLE BROWN, WHO PROVED TO BE NOT ONLY A CONSUMMATE EDITOR OF THE TROUBLED DAVID FOSTER WALLACE, BUT A REAL FRIEND. UNFORTUNATELY, WHILE HE DID SKILLFULLY EDIT WALLACE’S BRILLIANT, DENSE AND DIFFICULT WORK (CONSIDER THE LOBSTER, INFINITE JEST) INTO CULT STATUS, WHILE TRYING TO COPE WITH THE AUTHOR’S INSTABILITY, IN THE END, HE COULDN’T KEEP WALLACE FROM HIS PREMATURE DATE WITH DEATH.

THAT’S NOT TO SAY THAT THERE HAS NEVER BEEN CONSTERNATION IN THESE EDITORIAL RELATIONSHIPS, EVEN AMONG THE GOLDEN OLDIES. THERE’S A VERY OLD JOKE WHEREIN THE WRITER TELLS HIS EDITOR THAT SHE MUST HAVE A PIMP FOR A BROTHER, SO SHE CAN HAVE SOMEONE TO LOOK UP TO. I MYSELF HAVE HAD SIMILAR STAND-OFFS WITH WRITERS, IF NOT AS COLORFUL. ONCE, AS THE AUTHOR AND I WERE APPROACHING THE END OF THE EDITING OF A BIOGRAPHY OF VICTORIA WOODHULL, THE FIRST WOMAN TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT, WE WERE SO CLOSE, WE COULD SEE DAYLIGHT JUST AROUND THE BEND. INSTEAD OF CLOSING THE PROCESS AND SAYING, “GOOD JOB”, I FOUND MYSELF PUSHING FOR JUST ONE MORE CHANGE. AND THE AUTHOR LET ME HAVE IT. “NITPICKER, IF YOU’RE SO GOOD, WHY AREN’T YOU WORKING FOR KNOPF OR PENGUIN?” I TOLD MYSELF THAT MY OWN CHILDREN OFTEN FIRED OFF SUCH ATTACKS ON MY AUTHORITY WHEN THEY WERE FRUSTRATED.

FOR, IN TRUTH, ALL GOOD EDITORS, EVEN IN THOSE GOLDEN YEARS I JUST SPOKE ABOUT, SEEK AN IMPOSSIBLE PERFECTION IN THE POTENTIAL WORKS THEY ARE INVOLVED IN THAT EXISTS ONLY IN THEIR OWN MINDS. MY OWN MODEST OPINION IS THAT EVEN DICKENS AND PHILIP ROTH COULD BE IMPROVED UPON. THAT’S JUST HOW EDITORS THINK. I GREET EVERY INQUIRY WITH ENTHUSIASM, SURE THAT EVEN IF IT HAS FEW DISCERNABLE POSSIBILITIES, WITH A LITTLE WORK ON THE WRITER’S AND MY PART, IT WILL PRODUCE DAZZLING METAPHORS, CAPTIVATING IMAGES, UNIQUE CHARACTERS. AND LET’S THROW IN A PLOT THAT WILL SIZZLE ITS WAY TO THE TOP OF THE HOLLYWOOD PYRAMID. THE AUTHOR, ON THE OTHER HAND, IS SURE THAT ALL THOSE ELEMENTS ARE PRESENT AND ACCOUNTED FOR ALREADY, IS PERFECTLY HAPPY WITH THE WORDS HE HAS BROUGHT FORTH, AND DOES NOT LOOK KINDLY ON MEDDLING. THAT DILEMMA IS PART AND PARCEL OF THE EDITING PROCESS.

SO, PATIENCE, TACT AND COMPROMISE ARE THE WATCH WORDS. AS I WARILY CIRCLE THE WRITER LIKE A FOX CIRCLING THE HENHOUSE, HOPING AGAINST EXPERIENCE THAT HE HAS CHECKED HIS SENSITIVITY AT THE DOOR, AND THAT I WILL DISPLAY A NURTURING INSTINCT THAT MY CHILDREN HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT I LACKED. IN THIS PURSUIT OF EPHEMERAL PERFECTION, SOMETHING’S GOT TO GIVE—AND HOPEFULLY, NEITHER MY JOB NOR THE AUTHOR’S MIND. IN THIS PROCESS OF IMPROVING THE PLOT STRUCTURE, ROUNDING OUT THE CHARACTERS, GETTING THE AUTHOR TO UNDERSTAND THAT A SINGULAR NOUN DEMANDS A SINGULAR PRONOUN WHEN REFERRING TO ITSELF, THERE IS A LOT OF SPIRITED DIFFERENCE. IF YOU CAN GET TO THE END OF THE PROCESS AVOIDING FISTICUFFS, COUNT IT A VICTORY. A VITAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WRITER AND EDITOR? I OFTEN THINK A MORE PRECISE ADJECTIVE IS CALLED FOR. ADVERSARIAL, MAYBE?

BARBARA PHILLIPS