We like to think of authors as the sole creators of their work, a romantic notion of the solitary figure alone in his/her garret, spooling out spotless text. Thus John Heming, of Shakespeare: “His mind and hand went together: And what he thought, he uttered with that easiness, that we have scarce received from him a blot.” [Preface to the First Folio]
Don’t believe it. It is one of the curiosities of our cultural baggage that we think writers work alone. Are not their names—alone—on the title page? When awards are handed out, is not the author the one who takes it home?
In fact writing—in the professional world—is an intensely collaborative art. No one these days is more important than the editor, who can, and often does, work with the writer to shift, guide, cut, redirect, refine, and sometimes even rewrite the work. The editor has a unique set of skills, perceptions, and the talent to communicate to the writer. It’s highly individualistic. Editor X and writer Y work wonderfully well together, but not editor X and writer Z. Z works better with M. It’s not uncommon for a writer to work with a specific editor throughout his/her career. And if you study an editor’s connections, there are some editors whose writers have been more successful than others. It is not a coincidence.
I’m thinking these thoughts since I just sent in the first draft of a new book to my editor. When I hear from her I’ll start writing the book.