Waiting for The Book Editor’s Report

I’d had some feedback from a few of my trusted readers but real life and Christmas took precedent so I’d felt the need for professional help. It was New Year’s Day and I was counting the days until I would get the Report from the Book Editor. I’d sent my manuscript off four weeks earlier. Writing Christmas cards, wrapping presents and visiting friends and family had also kept me well occupied for three weeks but here I was in the New Year, with the due date of 10th January fixed in neon lights at the front of my brain and ringed in red on my new wall calendar. Just before bed I put a large cross on 1st January. One day down, nine to go. I was in such a constant state of excitement and anxiety that I couldn’t sit still or concentrate on much at all let alone sleep.

Distraction therapy

I started transferring important dates from last year’s diary to my new one. It always seemed like a chore while on the To Do list but looking back over the birthdays, anniversaries, full moons, solar eclipses, birds spotted, vegetables planted and fruit harvested gave me pleasant memories. Four days down, six to go.

I phoned far off friends that I only spoke to once a year and heard all the news from New Zealand to Los Angeles, from Japan to Scotland. Six days down, four to go. I watched some BBC iplayer downloads that were due to expire telling myself it was a useful occupation because they were Rom Coms like my book and it was good research.

Eight days down, two to go. I settled down to watch the long awaited start of a TV series and after five minutes was shocked as a power cut caused a total black out. I looked around the room as my appliances, closed down one after the other and all the red lights went off.

I muddled my way over to the window and drew the curtains to see all the houses in my view shining brightly like an electric forest. I picked up the battery camping lamp and made my way around the flat pulling up binds and opening curtains. Yep, it seemed everyone else in the locality still had power. Luckily my phone still had some battery left as did my laptop so I found the phone number for reporting power cuts and called it in.

Some very pleasant and remarkably calm workmen from the electricity distributor arrived and worked from eight pm until 2am, finding the fault with a device that looked and sounded like a geiger counter and then digging up the car park. At midnight a generator arrived to get us through the night so I wrapped the recently stocked fridge freezer in blankets, made tea and biscuits for the workmen and went to bed.

A Lesson in Mindfulness

It took them most of the next day to fix the problem so I wrapped up and went for a walk along the river. I contemplated how many of my everyday activities were totally dependent on a supply of electricity in my all electric flat: cooking, heating, lighting, emailing friends, family and work colleagues, phoning, writing my book……

The report was due the next day but as it was coming by email I wouldn’t get it would I? The power cut released me from the tension of anticipation. I sighed with relief, got out my binoculars and watched the waders searching the exposed mudbanks for food, envying their simple life.

By the time I got home the power was back on and the workmen had left, taking their generator with them. I unwrapped the fridge freezer and turned on the kettle, delighting in my ability to boil water in seconds and made a cup of tea.

The rest of day nine was taken up by swapping stories with other residents about what they were doing when the power went off. One was in the shower, another cooking dinner, one was mid-internet call to Australia and another had just turned her microwave on to heat up some soup.

The Book Report Arrives

The next day I checked my Inbox and there it was. An email from the book editor, who sounded quite friendly. He said he’d enjoyed working on my book and commented, ‘There’s so much potential here, and just two main hurdles to get over and you’ll be away!’

I sighed with relief and downloaded his report. There was an introduction to his working methods and another comment saying the book had potential followed by, ‘There are several major areas to work on and significant work to be done to get the manuscript ready to submit to agents, but this idea really has legs.’

Hmmmm…. he’d obviously been breaking the news slowly and gently. My heart sank a little, I was already two years into this project and had seriously run out of steam.

The Problems

He revealed the first problem, ‘The primary issue you have is that you resolve tension way too easily’. I wasn’t leaving enough time in between something going wrong for the heroine and some kind friend or family member stepping to help her out. He listed a few examples and I could see his point.

The trouble was that I didn’t want my heroine to suffer too much. I set out to write a feel-good, funny story that had a happy ending but it seems that a certain amount conflict is necessary to create the tension that keeps the pages turning. So I was going to have to go through it again adding in more conflict at an earlier stage and letting the characters and the reader sweat a little until the problems were resolved.

He also pointed out that the way I dealt with telling the story from different Point of Views was confusing. He listed more examples and I could see his point. The story is written mainly from the female lead POV but every now and then I had put in a one sentence comment from the male lead POV such as “he liked her too”, “he wanted to hold her hand but didn’t”, “he knew he had to tell her but it wasn’t the right time.”

I thought they were fine, but the book editor said it’s confusing and better to write whole scenes/chapters from one character’s POV at a time. I had done this later on in the book and realised that these one sentence POV switches were really a reminder to myself of how the male lead was feeling at the time. So I have to go through it again taking these one-liners out and putting in new scenes from the male lead POV.

I realised the ‘Two main hurdles to get over’ translated to a complete edit from start to finish. I knew from previous edits that this amounted to three or four months work. My heart sank.

The Follow Up Call

To accompany the report a thirty minute follow up phone call had been scheduled with the book editor. I spent two days going through the manuscript and his comments that he’d added as he read it. I pulled out the ones I wanted to talk about, there were thirty, one per minute…. Hmmm….. I sent him an email to warn him and to give him permission to cut me off when my time was up. As it turned out he was very accommodating and we chatted for ninety minutes covering all thirty points as well as the two main hurdles.

The unexpected thing was that I enjoyed the phone call so much. It was exciting to discuss these things with another writer. It was fun and something I hadn’t done before. I felt inspired, motivated, full of energy and at the end of the call I was raring to go. The thought of yet another edit wasn’t so daunting and I knew that my book would be the better for it.

Helpful Guidelines

In his Report the Editor made several references to a book by Billy Mernit called Writing the Romantic Comedy. I’ve seen this mentioned in many online articles and although the blurb promises screenwriting secrets they can be just as useful for novels. These are the main headings for structure:

ACT 1

1 The Chemical Equation: Setup. A scene or sequence that identifies the exterior and /or interior conflict implied in the protagonist’s and/or the antagonist’s current status quo.

2 Cute Meet: The Catalyst. The inciting incident that brings them together and preferably into conflict, often in an amusing way, which sets the tone for the action to come.

3 A Sexy Complication: Turning Point. A new development that raises story stakes and clearly defines the main characters’ goals – most successful when it sets them at cross-purposes.

ACT 2

4 The Hook: Midpoint. A situation that irrevocably binds them together, often stirring sexual tensions and that has further implications for the outcome of the relationship.

5 Swivel: Second Turning Point. Stakes reach their highest point as the romantic relationship’s importance jeopardises the protagonists’ chance to succeed at their stated goals and so the goals shift.

ACT 3

6 The Dark Moment: Crisis Climax. The consequences of this is some level of disaster and humiliation where private motivations are revealed and the relationship is seemingly lost forever.

7 Joyful Defeat: Resolution. A reconciliation that reaffirms the importance of the relationship, usually a happy ending that implies marriage or a serious commitment, often at the cost of some personal sacrifice to the protagonists.