Look, I don’t want to brag, but here’s an anecdote that could be useful for you: after the editing of my latest (non-fiction) book was done, I asked the editor what she thought I could do better next time. She answered: „You know, this is a question only good writers ask. There’s nothing I can tell that you don’t already feel deep inside you.“ I’m telling this because I think your „anxieties and insecurities“ already show on your Substack and that your gut will tell you what matters, and the editor (if it’s a good one) will do little more than give some technical/formal advice plus gently point you to what you already know deep down.
I’ve been an editor and used an editor, and the important thing to remember is that it’s their judgement against yours, not a magic recipe for bestsellerdom. Trust your instincts and use their intellect when it seems helpful rather than harmful. As for posting on Substack, I don’t see the point in doing if you haven’t got something worth saying. Posting for the sake of it is like masturbation: a brief release that is unfruitful and quickly forgotten.
Good to see you back, Remy, and congratulations on taking your novel to the next step. You've gotten good advice here about taking what you feel is true and right from an editor and leaving the rest. I've worked with editors on two books and one anthology. I feel lucky to have the experience of having my writing kicked up a notch each time. Hemingway said, "We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master."
As for Substack burn out -- for me, writing in general has burn out moments where I enter period of doubt about what I want to write about and how I want to write it. I think those are things to tough through -- resistance comes in many forms. If you haven't already, please read Steven Pressfield's book, The War of Art -- it's all about resistance. And on a final note, I think that manuscript weariness is a real thing. You get to the end of a long involved piece, and you need to catch your breath. These are the times that I rely on journaling and reading to stimulate the flames of creativity.
You're an excellent writer. Writing is ongoing learning, experimenting and discovery. This is the writer's life. May you live it well.
Congrats on completing your manuscript! Your description of working with an editor sounds spot on. It feels so much like leaving your child at a stoplight. There's this time I call... The Great Wait... where you've turned in the whole thing, you're waiting for feedback, and you just get sad. It's such a vulnerable time. Rewrites are always a given, but during my first book (under my name where I wasn't ghosting) a very senior novelist took me aside and said... you don't have to take ALL her notes... YOU decide, this is still your vision and your book. And it took all the defensiveness out of the process. I took 90% of her notes, the rest... I held fast to the ideas that mattered to me.
Excellent point, I regularly rejected the editor of 5 of my book's "notes." He is often pleasantly surprised by my solution to what he perceived as a problem. Screenplays are even more ridiculous. The "notes" I have gotten over the years from Hollywood "creative executives" are beyond parody.
Ha, don't get me started on Hollywood creative execs. It's why I like getting hired to do a first draft screenplay, get paid, and then step away. When things are optioned, unless it's a love project you want to showrun, I find if you claim your EP credit but detach from outcome, it's the least painful path. They *will* send you every draft--with the most absurd edits if they think you will weigh in pro bono.
For me, Hollywood, a place where everything "almost" always happens, is about health insurance! After six options and more than a decade’s worth of “development deals” with Hollywood’s good, bad, and ugly, in 2023 I made a vow not to “hop on” another insipid Zoom call or sell another option again. Now I am director and EP on a documentary based on the same book. I am very fortunate that Jose Padilha is the other EP and I don't live in LA. He handles the Zoom calls and meetings about meetings. Still, no matter how bright the future looks, II never give up my day job--editing and ghostwriting--that is why we are both up at 430 am!
One especially needs an editor if self published. We writers can edit, for a while, but they are the strict coach in the sidelines. Yes, pricey, but having one ups the possibility of your book, project being read by a paying customer a thousand percent. And do be ready to go at it again. I handed over 100k words and she ‘suggested’ I cut 30k. I first cried, then got angry, then went to work. My readers loved loved the finished product, asked for book 2–which they got. And awaiting book 3 in trilogy. Bon chance!
I feel the same about Substack. For 18 months I was very consistent in posting weekly and then it all just fell apart. I’m entering my third year here and definitely wanting to bring more ease into my writing practice.
It's interesting that a few writers I admire, including you Remy, have come to the same conclusion as I have with their newsletter. After re-evaluating what's most important about it we have returned to that sense of community, great communication and quality. It's a characteristic of wholeheartedness we are subtly stamping onto our work that we don't want laced with the pressure of achievement.
But, on the note of achievement, well done on getting your manuscript to your editor. I have never done this but I can imagine how scary it would be. May those words fly to land in the hearts of folks all over the world eventually!
Congratulations on reaching this milestone. I was an editor for many years and have worked with editors from inspiring to mediocre. The good ones will challenge you while respecting your vision for the work. They will see both potential and pitfalls that have escaped you. They are true partners who will send you back to work energized. You don’t have to take all their notes, and they won’t expect you to. The big-picture stuff is where the excitement happens.
PS: I don't really understand the unsubsribes you're getting -- I only do that when it's become clear that someone's Substack is either just not for me or they post All The Damn Time and my inbox has become, once again unmanageable so I have to make some ruthless decisions. Never ever have I popped open my laptop and thought, "Now, where is the Substack from X???" Maybe that's just me . . .
Yes, I've worked with editors -- one that I hired for a manuscript review on a novel I was feverishly working on (that hasn't, to date, sold) and now the one who acquired my middle grade fantasy novels. Working with the editor I hired was great, but it sure hit my pocketbook and I'm not entirely convinced our goals for the book were aligned (my fault for not articulating my vision, I'm sure). Working with the editor I have now is, so far, a great pleasure. It feels like I have a coach and a champion.
Congrats on sending your manuscript off! A big milestone. And I think having less rigid structure is never a bad thing, there's nothing like making yourself do something week after week to make you hate the thing you used to love!
My European mother once said, "There is no such thing as enough in America."
Look, I don’t want to brag, but here’s an anecdote that could be useful for you: after the editing of my latest (non-fiction) book was done, I asked the editor what she thought I could do better next time. She answered: „You know, this is a question only good writers ask. There’s nothing I can tell that you don’t already feel deep inside you.“ I’m telling this because I think your „anxieties and insecurities“ already show on your Substack and that your gut will tell you what matters, and the editor (if it’s a good one) will do little more than give some technical/formal advice plus gently point you to what you already know deep down.
This. ⬆️
I’ve been an editor and used an editor, and the important thing to remember is that it’s their judgement against yours, not a magic recipe for bestsellerdom. Trust your instincts and use their intellect when it seems helpful rather than harmful. As for posting on Substack, I don’t see the point in doing if you haven’t got something worth saying. Posting for the sake of it is like masturbation: a brief release that is unfruitful and quickly forgotten.
Look after yourself, first. Congrats on sending off the manuscript!
And it's good to see you back. Take care.
Thanks!
Good to see you back, Remy, and congratulations on taking your novel to the next step. You've gotten good advice here about taking what you feel is true and right from an editor and leaving the rest. I've worked with editors on two books and one anthology. I feel lucky to have the experience of having my writing kicked up a notch each time. Hemingway said, "We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master."
As for Substack burn out -- for me, writing in general has burn out moments where I enter period of doubt about what I want to write about and how I want to write it. I think those are things to tough through -- resistance comes in many forms. If you haven't already, please read Steven Pressfield's book, The War of Art -- it's all about resistance. And on a final note, I think that manuscript weariness is a real thing. You get to the end of a long involved piece, and you need to catch your breath. These are the times that I rely on journaling and reading to stimulate the flames of creativity.
You're an excellent writer. Writing is ongoing learning, experimenting and discovery. This is the writer's life. May you live it well.
Thanks for your kind words, and for the recommendation, I'll check it out!
Congrats on completing your manuscript! Your description of working with an editor sounds spot on. It feels so much like leaving your child at a stoplight. There's this time I call... The Great Wait... where you've turned in the whole thing, you're waiting for feedback, and you just get sad. It's such a vulnerable time. Rewrites are always a given, but during my first book (under my name where I wasn't ghosting) a very senior novelist took me aside and said... you don't have to take ALL her notes... YOU decide, this is still your vision and your book. And it took all the defensiveness out of the process. I took 90% of her notes, the rest... I held fast to the ideas that mattered to me.
Thanks for the tip, and yes I've been feeling rather empty since I pressed sent. May I ask what made you decide to 'ghost'?
You know, I did it to pay the bills as a single mum... and to better my practice?
Excellent point, I regularly rejected the editor of 5 of my book's "notes." He is often pleasantly surprised by my solution to what he perceived as a problem. Screenplays are even more ridiculous. The "notes" I have gotten over the years from Hollywood "creative executives" are beyond parody.
Ha, don't get me started on Hollywood creative execs. It's why I like getting hired to do a first draft screenplay, get paid, and then step away. When things are optioned, unless it's a love project you want to showrun, I find if you claim your EP credit but detach from outcome, it's the least painful path. They *will* send you every draft--with the most absurd edits if they think you will weigh in pro bono.
For me, Hollywood, a place where everything "almost" always happens, is about health insurance! After six options and more than a decade’s worth of “development deals” with Hollywood’s good, bad, and ugly, in 2023 I made a vow not to “hop on” another insipid Zoom call or sell another option again. Now I am director and EP on a documentary based on the same book. I am very fortunate that Jose Padilha is the other EP and I don't live in LA. He handles the Zoom calls and meetings about meetings. Still, no matter how bright the future looks, II never give up my day job--editing and ghostwriting--that is why we are both up at 430 am!
Same!
That's a really good point about the defensiveness!
Your writing is heartfelt and real! Thank you! I’m inspired as I move forward with a new project.
Elyse, thank you!
Congrats on the manuscript!!
Thanks :)
One especially needs an editor if self published. We writers can edit, for a while, but they are the strict coach in the sidelines. Yes, pricey, but having one ups the possibility of your book, project being read by a paying customer a thousand percent. And do be ready to go at it again. I handed over 100k words and she ‘suggested’ I cut 30k. I first cried, then got angry, then went to work. My readers loved loved the finished product, asked for book 2–which they got. And awaiting book 3 in trilogy. Bon chance!
How inspiring! Thanks
I feel the same about Substack. For 18 months I was very consistent in posting weekly and then it all just fell apart. I’m entering my third year here and definitely wanting to bring more ease into my writing practice.
I felt that in May (after about a year)
It's interesting that a few writers I admire, including you Remy, have come to the same conclusion as I have with their newsletter. After re-evaluating what's most important about it we have returned to that sense of community, great communication and quality. It's a characteristic of wholeheartedness we are subtly stamping onto our work that we don't want laced with the pressure of achievement.
But, on the note of achievement, well done on getting your manuscript to your editor. I have never done this but I can imagine how scary it would be. May those words fly to land in the hearts of folks all over the world eventually!
Thanks Donna!
Congratulations on reaching this milestone. I was an editor for many years and have worked with editors from inspiring to mediocre. The good ones will challenge you while respecting your vision for the work. They will see both potential and pitfalls that have escaped you. They are true partners who will send you back to work energized. You don’t have to take all their notes, and they won’t expect you to. The big-picture stuff is where the excitement happens.
Thank you Rona!
PS: I don't really understand the unsubsribes you're getting -- I only do that when it's become clear that someone's Substack is either just not for me or they post All The Damn Time and my inbox has become, once again unmanageable so I have to make some ruthless decisions. Never ever have I popped open my laptop and thought, "Now, where is the Substack from X???" Maybe that's just me . . .
I meant paid unsubscribes, but that's a normal part of the process. I wasn't posting as much, so it's fair enough :)
That makes a bit more sense.
Yes, I've worked with editors -- one that I hired for a manuscript review on a novel I was feverishly working on (that hasn't, to date, sold) and now the one who acquired my middle grade fantasy novels. Working with the editor I hired was great, but it sure hit my pocketbook and I'm not entirely convinced our goals for the book were aligned (my fault for not articulating my vision, I'm sure). Working with the editor I have now is, so far, a great pleasure. It feels like I have a coach and a champion.
Congrats on sending your manuscript off! A big milestone. And I think having less rigid structure is never a bad thing, there's nothing like making yourself do something week after week to make you hate the thing you used to love!
Hi Remy. Is good to have you back. I'm with you, I've reached that point a few months ago. Now, I'm just writing what I want, just for fun.