ACL 2070 |
Lecture 7 |
Structural Editing There are three forms of editing usually performed in the following order.
Structural editing is the physical and conceptual manipulation of texts into desirable or publishable form usually performed prior to the copy editing and proof reading stages. Allows use to use structural metaphors:
Structural editing decisions are made from the most minuscule problems (such as single word choice) to those big decisions which affect the Australian publishing industry in general. I'd like you to try to think of all of these problems as ones relating to structural editing. Levels of Structure : the fundamental components of a text
But, like words and sentences, paragraphs still need to be conceived of as single and complete units of sense. In fact, for editing purposes, all texts need to be seen in this way. Even the longest book or multi-volume work needs, at at least one stage in its development, to be seen as a single and complete unit, composed of other single and complete units which are in turn . . . . Things that are made of paragraphs Poetry
Book
Chapter (in a single-authored book)
Chapter (in a multi-authored book) What are we to do then when, for example, we find in a collection of book of serious and academic essays on funeral rituals around the world, that a few authors have taken humorous approaches which clash with the sombre tone of the rest of the content? Do we ask the authors to rewrite? Reviews don't need to paraphrase the plot of a novel or the narrative of a history or critical book. For example, a review of Bill Clinton's autobiography wouldn't tell us the story of Clinton's life, it should say why the book is worth reading or otherwise. The best reviews have an argument. They can be humorous, polemical or reflective but if they are really effective they'll place a book within a movement, cultural public moment, a debate, or a genre. Reviewing can be harder than it seems but then there are also many poor habits reviewers fall into - mere summary of the contents of a book, or rushed reading to earn income and meet deadlines, for example. Any magazine is guided by an editorial policy and vision which has a strong influence over its content, balance and flow – all structural issues. Many hours are spent agonising over each of these questions in the production phases of each issue. Which pieces should be published? Order is often determined by practical questions like: Where can it fit?
Individual magazine (diachronic) But even if we manage to produce one unified and coherent single issue of a magazine, our job of structural editing is not complete. We have still to place it in relation to the history of the magazine. Diachronic structural editing
Well let's say maybe it wouldn't but you, as editor, felt it was an important topic for Australian readers. What you have done is made an important diachronic structural editing decision about the magazine's direction. Synchronic, as opposed to diachronic analysis.
Publishing company
Each of the things I've talked about today is a text and a structure (some obviously more complex than others) which requires editorial decisions to be made which have an impact on the nature of that structure.
Structural editing of fiction: The process of structural editing for fiction can be summed up as checking on content, flow, style, clarity and consistency. Many of the skills you have practiced in your tutorials. It involves identifying the strengths and weaknesses. This should not be confused with ‘strong' or ‘weak' writing. At this point you are only looking at the narrative and asking questions such as:
You will then looks at other areas such as,
Some of you will dig deeper and bring out unseen elements of the story. Story elements: You will look at individual elements of the story, especially, but not confined to:
Some questions you might ask yourself as you read might be:
You will look for inconsistencies and inaccuracies, especially in timelines, dialogue, characterization, setting and voice. Balance of dialogue and exposition is important – is there too much dialogue and too much in between, or not enough dialogue? Maybe there is no need for any dialogue? How is the story being told? Is there too much telling rather than showing? Productive use of dialogue and exposition can provide more subtle ways of getting the story point across. A structural edit may also look at other landscapes travelled in the story:
Theme Writers may begin with one theme in mind and deviate as they explore the world of their characters, creating discord or inconsistency in the way the story is told. They may not have a theme in mind and one may emerge unconsciously as they write. There's nothing wrong with this, but it is not what you want in the final draft. You want consistency from start to finish. Structural editing to deconstruct theme can help to clarify irregularities. Good thematic understanding can clarify narrative points, character actions and reactions and lend authenticity to a story, which may not have been there originally. Flow Ask “does this progress the story?” This is an especially important question when trying to cut sections to bring in a word count. You have to weigh up the value and beauty of the prose against the need for progress in the story, so as not to strip away what makes the story unique. Knowing the actual start of a story. There is often too much backstory, an artifact of the writer wirting their way into the plot and characters. Sometimes there is too much detail, sometimes not enough. Sometimes important information is skipped over or missed altogether. You can tell when a narrative is stalling – it is where you start to get distracted or no longer care or there are sections which don't serve the story Point of View and Tense POV and tense are the crossover points between structural and copyediting. But POV and tense can be seminal to the way in which a story unfolds and is a structuring technique. Summing up structural editing for fiction Edits are only suggestions or recommendations. In the end it is always the writer's work. In your major projects you will not be consulting with the writer but your guide is still you only ever want to develop the best possible story, not hijack the writer's work. And finally, use these structural editing principles to help your own writing.
|