the craft. stet.

Stet. Let it stand. It’s tattooed on the knuckles of YA and middle grade author Jason Reynolds. And while I might not go that far, I want to talk a little about its importance in the editing and revision process.

When I first started freelance writing, I had no understanding that edits were suggestions. Often, we view the power dynamic of editor and writer as a hierarchy when as I’ve grown as a writer, I began to see it much more as a partnership. Writing and editing take two different parts of the brain. So it’s a symbiotic relationship, in my opinion.

I realized when I jumped into the book publishing process that I was still in charge of my book. I was being asked questions that shocked me because my assumption was that some things would be dictated to me versus having a say. And sure, there will be things like your book cover or title that the publisher is heavy handed on. But the heart of your book, the story, the message you hope to convey, will always be yours.

When you receive your first pass edits and edit memo, it may feel overwhelming. But after the initial anxiety passes, it’s yours for the taking or not. However, if they are a good editor, more likely than not, you will see how these suggestions will improve your work. I think I said in an earlier newsletter that Toni Morrision had an editor. Thee Toni Morrison. So listen, your writing could always use some help. But I want to lay out my rubric for deciding when to stet my ground and when to let up.

Is it integral to the story I was hoping to tell? I had some important character tropes that were key for me. Showing men in a flawed but positive light. Showing authentic and true friendship between Black women. No edit should have compromised that.

Is it true to the culture of the characters? This pertains to dialogue edits. Let’s just be honest, every copy editor is not going to be fluent in AAVE or whatever your own cultural norms are. So sometimes you have to be very bold about what is necessary for your culture even if it’s not grammatically correct.

Am I being asked to explain? Specifically when it comes to “own voices” which is a problematic designation in itself, but so you’ll understand, sometimes you’ll be asked to expand on certain things and maybe you don’t want to. For instance, my character’s mom is Afro-latina, so there is some Spanish in the book. If you don’t know Spanish, you can look it up. But I didn’t want to bog down pacing with the need to explain to make it more palatable for the masses. I look up words all the time in English. Readers will survive.

Am I being misunderstood? Now this one is tricky because it may be a case for some rewriting. The goal is for a reader to understand and this is the lens an editor is reading from. Such a small example of this was a note about a restaurant I was referencing and whether it was open on Sundays. Well, the copy editor and I were thinking of two different locations. So yes, I wanted the restaurant to remain, however, adding a street name or neighborhood helped eliminate the confusion.

What surprised me after a while with editing was how easy it became for me to cut certain things. Where so much felt dear to me before the editing process began, I realized things like pacing were more important than some cute sentences I put together with my five dollar words.

Remember, it’s about keeping the integrity of the story at the forefront, so you also can’t let your ego get in the way. Edits are a dance and you have to learn to decipher when you’re receiving great edits that will elevate your work and what you absolutely need to let stand.

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