Sliced and Diced

I’m at the stage of self-publication to need copyediting/proofreading services.  I asked one of my writing teachers for a recommendation for a local person and received one.  I dashed off an e-mail to learn if the person was currently available to take on another client.  The response I received corrected me; she was a line editor, not a copy editor or proofreader.  I thought the response was a bit high minded but the description of the services made sense. Her fee was $45/hr which was within the range I had researched on line for this type of service.  She asked for the first chapter of my novel and I sent a file on July 6th.

The first chapter is six pages, about 1830 words.  How long can it take to read those few pages and make a proposal?  It took three follow-up e-mails to receive a response on July 21st.  She estimated she would charge $200 for the first six pages.  At that rate line editing my novel would cost over $9000!  After reading just six pages she concluded:  I’m at the beginning stages of the novel and stated:  “My strong suggestion is to take a class in constructing the short story –this will strengthen your understanding of how to avoid cultural stereotypes and produce a complex protagonist who is a real individual; how to stick to a strictly internal POV; how to introduce back-story convincingly; and above all, how to expose conflict gradually, instead of all at once.”

Guess what?  The editor teaches short story writing.  Also, the editor has only published short stories, never a full length novel.  The critique is harsh and not transparent in being self-serving to attempt to get me to take one or more of her short story classes.

I understand that short story writing is a difficult and unique form in the writing profession.  I’m not writing a short story, it’s a novel.  A short story is a song while a novel is a symphony.  Her comments also convinced me she hasn’t kept up with current teaching on novel writing such as Donald Maass’s, WRITING THE BREAKHOUT NOVEL, where he implores authors to have conflict dripping on every page.

While her response was both subtle and tactful it still had the affect of slicing and dicing my novel to shreds.  Where is her support for a first time novelist?  She broke the cardinal rule of critique, praise the good and make suggestions for improvement.

I admit at first reading her comments were devastating and sent me into deep depression.  With this blog I’m exorcising her from my psyche and moving on.  I’ll find an editor I can work with.