The Workshop: Principles and Practice

Instructor: Dr. Matthew Bennett Materials: Course Packet, Student MS Email: [email protected] Location: Hugo House Spring Session: 1021 Columbia St. Thurs. 5–7pm Seattle May 11, 2017–July 6, 2017

Course Summary An introduction to the theory and craft of editing and its application. Through course lectures, , and discussions, we will learn what makes good developmental, line, and editing. Students will engage peers in a -editor relationship, analyze their manuscripts as editors, practice market research, and learn to write helpful reader’s reports. By giving students the tools to use on live manuscripts, this course will train to think about projects like an editor… When I ask writers if they’ve studied editing, they sheepishly answer, “no.” To fill the gap in writers’ knowledge I introduce student writers in this course to several core editing techniques that they will apply to a fellow student’s fiction (MS). I will teach students the art and craft of editing through lectures, assigned readings, class discussions, and assignments. Lectures will focus on key editing concepts and strategies for revising narratives. Class readings will focus on the various techniques used by editors to improve manuscripts (MSS). Students will create important documents for MS submission, such as a letter of introduction, a book proposal, and an ’s bio. While the instructor guides students in improving each other’s MSS, the students will work to familiarize themselves with the charged writer-editor relationship. For the MSS they receive, students will create style sheets and reader’s reports, will perform market research, and will recommend publishers and, perhaps, agents. Acting as both writers and editors, students will exchange MSSs and process each other’s writing using editing techniques. Besides the time spent in class together, we will be and writing a lot for the course. We will be busy!

Student Responsibilities As writer, the student must provide a completed fiction MS of no more than 250 pages. This is to be submitted on the first day of class for revision by their peer. Student writers must be willing to accept criticism dispassionately and work to shape the editor’s vision of the project. As an editor, the student must revise their peer’s MS using the techniques outlined in the course. The student editor must be helpful and respectful to their writer,

Matthew Bennett 2 and must provide him/her with a complete reader’s report, as well as other assignments, at the end of the course. As a scholar, the student is responsible for reading the course materials, for participating in discussion, and for getting to class on time. There are a number of assignments distributed throughout the course that the student must complete in either role, as editor or writer, and the class works benefits from full and active participation.

Course Outline Week 1: Course Design, Editing Overview, and MS Exchange Week 2: The Writer-Editor Relationship, The Vision Statement Week 3: Levels of Intervention, The Author Memo Week 4: Developmental Editing, The Book Proposal Week 5: Developmental Editing, The Reader’s Report Week 6: Copyediting and the Style Sheet Week 7: Line Editing and Market Report Week 8: Concluding Statements, Submission of Revised MSS and Editing Documents

Week 1: May 11, 5-7pm Lecture: Introduction and overview Discussion: Student vision of the course Class exercise: The one-line pitch Exchange of MS with peers Reading Assignment: Pitoniak, “What Being an Editor Taught Me About Writing;” Fisher Saller, “The Good Launch” (13–24); Blake, “What is it?” (1–17); Franke-Ruta, “How (Not) to Pitch;” Peer MS Writing Assignment: one-line pitch (writer: due in one week); author bio (writer: due in one week)

Week 2: May 18, 5-7pm Lecture: The Writer-Editor Relation Discussion: Lecture, Pitoniak, Fisher Saller, and Blake Reading Assignment: Reading: Norton, “What is Developmental Editing” (1), “Concept: Shaping the Proposal” (9–26); Franke-Ruta, “How (Not) to Pitch;” Peer MS Writing Assignment: MS vision statement (writer-editor: due in two weeks)

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Week 3: May 25, 5-7pm Lecture: “Levels of Intervention: Developmental, Line, and ” Reading Assignment: Norton, “Content: Assessing Potential” (27–47); Gross et al., “What Editors Look for in a Query Letter, Proposal, and Manuscript” (94–100), Peer MS Writing Assignment: Author memo (editor: due in one week)

Week 4: June 1, 5-7pm Lecture: Developmental editing; identifying and improving effect; the book proposal Reading Assignment: Gross et al., “Working with a Free-Lance Editor or Book Doctor” (180–7); Germano, “Your Proposal” (73–88); Peer MS Writing Assignment: Book proposal (editor: due in two weeks)

Week 5: June 8, 5-7pm Lecture: Developmental editing and the reader’s report Reading Assignment: Gross et al., “The Copy Editor and the Author” (144–52), Einsohn, “What Copyeditors Do” (3–28); Peer MS Writing Assignment: Reader’s report (editor: due at end of course)

Week 6: June 15, 5-7pm Lecture: “Copyediting, the Marks and Punctuation;” “Your Word Processor and You” (insertions, deletions, movements, and comments) Reading Assignment: Gross et al., “Line Editing: Drawing Out the Best Book Possible” (154–68), “Line Editing: The Art of the Reasonable Suggestion” (170–2); Gardner, “Common Errors” (97–124); Peer MS Writing Assignment: Style sheet (editor: due at end of course); Reader’s report cont. (editor: due at end of course)

Week 7: June 22, 5-7pm Lecture: Line editing; Reading Assignment: Carver and Lish, “’Beginners,’ Edited;” Checkoway et al., “Incremental Perturbation: How to Know Whether You’ve Got a Plot or Not” (126–34); Drewis, “In Defense of Editors;” GBO, “The US Book Market.” Germano, “Selecting a Publisher” (54–72) Writing Assignment: Reader’s report cont. (editor: due at end of course); Market report (editor: due at end of course)

Week 8: July 6, 5-7pm

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Lecture: Market Research; “Improving Voice: Singing with the Diaphragm,” “Diction and Being True to Place,” Concluding comments; Class exercise: submission of revised Peer MS, reader’s report, and other assignments; writer-editor interview

Writing Assignments One-line Pitch The “one-line” or “log-line” is a one- to two-sentence description that presents the story in a short and dynamic way. It is often used to introduce the project to agents and publishers, and will be incorporated at the head of the book proposal.

Author Bio A brief description of the writer’s life that he/she writes and that the editor incorporates into the book proposal.

Vision Statement A one- to three-paragraph statement on the idea, audience, and market of the MS. To be composed by the writer and editor in collaboration.

Author Memo A one- to three-paragraph letter that the editor writes to the author describing the approach and objectives for revision.

Book Proposal A one- to five-page description of the project to sell the MS.

Reader’s Report This will be a multi-page document whose size will be determined by the depth of analysis and the length of the MS it comments upon. Students will use an outline provided by the instructor, although they are encouraged to add sections they feel are necessary for the particular story they edit. The reader’s reports will first be submitted to the instructor, who will act as to improve upon the editing comments and shape them for better effect. All reports should be developed in consultation with the MS writer in order to improve, rather than alter, the author’s vision.

Market Report A one- to three-paragraph assessment of the market that the editor creates from research for the writer and incorporates into the reader’s report.

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Course Packet (to include chapters and articles from) Checkoway, Julie. Creating Fiction. Einsohn, Amy. The Copyeditor’s Handbook Fisher Saller, Carol. The Subversive Copyeditor. Gardner, John. The Art of Fiction. Germano, William. Getting It Published. Gross, Gerald. Editors on Editing. Norton, Scott. Developmental Editing. Snyder, Blake. Save the Cat!

Additional Reading Carver, Raymond and Gordon Lish. “’Beginners,’ Edited.” The New Yorker. December

24, 2007. http://public.wsu.edu/~bryanfry/Beginners%20Edited.pdf

Conrad, James A. “Author Collaboration Agreement”

http://jamesaconrad.com/writing/author-collab-print.html

Drewis, Deena. “In Defense of Editors.” The Millions. January 7, 2010.

http://www.themillions.com/2010/01/in-defense-of-editors.html

Editors Canada. “Professional Editorial Standards 2016.”

http://www.editors.ca/publications/professional-editorial-standards

GBO. “The US Book Market.” 2015.

http://www.buchmesse.de/images/fbm/dokumente-ua-

pdfs/2016/book_market_us_jan_2016_56617.pdf

Hendrix, Jenny. “New Reads on Reading.” The New Yorker

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2011/07/new-reads-on-reading-

1.html

Hitt, Jack. “The Writer Is Dead.” The New York Times. May 25, 1997.

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/25/magazine/the-writer-is-

dead.html?pagewanted=1

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Milliot, Jim. “The Hottest (and Coldest) Book Categories of 2014.”

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-

//article/65387-the-hot-and-cold-categories-of-2014.html

Rustin, Susanna. “Dan Franklin: ‘I am a tart. I am deeply shallow.’” The Guardian.

March 14, 2010. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/mar/14/dan-franklin-

jonathan-cape

Temple, Emily. “12 Contemporary Writers on How to Revise.” Literary Hub. January 10,

2017.