{"id":19,"date":"2019-10-25T11:08:49","date_gmt":"2019-10-25T11:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.shortstorydayafrica.org\/?p=19"},"modified":"2019-10-25T11:08:49","modified_gmt":"2019-10-25T11:08:49","slug":"the-story-always-came-first-editing-fellows-report-on-their-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shortstorydayafrica.org\/?p=19","title":{"rendered":"‘The story always came first’: Editing Fellows report on their experience"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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\"Editing<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

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\u201cThis Fellowship has disabused any notions that I may have unconsciously held about writing being solitary work.\u201d Agazit Abate, 2019 SSDA Editing Fellow<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Hotel Africa<\/em>, the sixth Short Story Day Africa anthology, is safely uploaded onto the web (you can get the ebook here if you\u2019re in Africa<\/a>) and off to the printers, so it\u2019s time to reflect back on an essential and unique part of the production process: the Editing Mentorship.<\/p>\n

You can read more about this programme and why we run it here<\/a>, but the short version is that we see our mission as not only identifying, nurturing and supporting talented writers from the continent, but developing editors as well. Our hope is that will lead to closer partnerships between African writers and editors, with the latter confident of their ability to provide context-sensitive developmental and copy-editing of the highest professional standards.<\/p>\n

This year, we made the application process more formal, which led to 57 applications being received \u2013 with every single candidate a deserving one. It was with great difficulty that we settled on Agazit Abate<\/strong> (Ethiopia), Ope Adedeji<\/strong> (Nigeria) and Anne Moraa<\/strong> (Kenya) as our Editing Fellows, but we did so because they convinced us they would be adding value to African writing and publishing for decades to come. Although we usually take on only two Fellows, this year we made the \u201cwonderful mistake\u201d of taking on three, as Karen Jennings, an award-winning author and gifted editor, and herself a SSDA \u201calumni\u201d, offered to help with mentoring. It was a \u201cmistake\u201d in that it made the programme very cumbersome: our inboxes groaned under the weight of the mails going back and forth, especially once the authors were swept into the process. It was \u201cwonderful\u201d in that writers and editors \u2013 whose jobs are definition very lonely ones \u2013 got a chorus of voices commenting on each other\u2019s work and interacting with one another. It also really highlighted that there is no \u201ccorrect\u201d formula for editing, and the reports from the Fellows bear this out.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what Ope Adedeji said:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Fellowship was an intense few months where I got to work with incredible editors, and hone my editing by reading and editing brilliant writers from across Africa. I remember being unsure, and second-guessing my abilities when I received my acceptance email. Now, I\u2019m mostly grateful; it has been a rewarding experience. I was able to learn a lot — from the rules of constructing a seamless sentence to the importance of cultivating a relationship with the writer. It\u2019s interesting that this latter point may be one of the most under-rated skills people deem necessary in an editor. It\u2019s just as important as knowing the rules of grammar. A good set of people skills will help the writer trust the editor to make their work the best version of what it currently is, without changing their distinct voice.<\/p>\n

I worked primarily with Helen, who re-emphasised that \u201cYou don\u2019t need to tell what\u2019s already been shown.\u201d One golden writing rule is \u201cshow, don\u2019t tell.\u201d When a writer does both, perhaps as a form of filler, it\u2019s the editor\u2019s job to find these passages, and cut out the \u201ctelling\u201d.<\/p>\n

Working with other editors made me understand that editors won\u2019t always agree. In the end, doing the best for the writer’s work is what solves any differing opinions.<\/p>\n

You know what was very helpful? Doing the \u201cread-aloud\u201d test. This was one of the more useful techniques I took away from this fellowship. It helps you do so much when trying to fix sentences: knowing when to remove or insert commas, testing the sentences for rhythm and pace, catching errors, etc.<\/p>\n

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One of my first lessons was that when something has been written by the author, we can\u2019t \u201cimprove\u201d on their choice of words. A character in the first story I edited, \u201cThe Last Resident\u201d, was holding on to a set of banisters. I suggested the addition of the adjective \u201csturdy\u201d to describe the banister. But the author hadn\u2019t in fact suggested that they were<\/em> sturdy. So while in theory my extra word might have \u201cimproved\u201d the sentence, adding it was erroneous on my part. If an editor does this consistently, it would compromise the voice of the author.\u201d<\/p>\n

And this was what Anne Moraa had to say, especially about freedom:<\/p>\n

\u201cI have always loved editing. The process of working with an author to have a story reveal itself, fully formed, to both of us. I wanted to do this fellowship because SSDA has published some of the best short stories I had ever read and, having been published once by them, I was fascinated by the editorial approach. Every story has knots, like the knots in your hair, that have to be untangled or cut off. A great editor sees those knots immediately and can help guide the author into fixing them. The SSDA process is relatively unique in its approach, having us as Editing Fellows and the Editing Mentors not only giving their perspective, but having a conversation in the comments for the author to read. Having two different editors approach the same knot in the story, sometimes in agreement, sometimes not, then getting the story back to discover how the author untangled the same knot, sometimes in ways neither editor foresaw, was illuminating. That process gave both editors (Fellow and Mentor) the freedom to be tough on the work, and it was freeing to the author, who knew they could find their own solution if neither of ours fitted. The story always, always, came first.”<\/p>\n

Agazit Abate made us smile with these words:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I am being honest, I must say that my interest in the SSDA Editing Mentorship Programme was sparked in equal parts by a desire to 1) learn how to edit fiction; and 2) be involved in a writing process without having to write. That is, I wanted to hide, to seek refuge from writing in a place that was close enough to not feel like I was running away. <\/p>\n

At the offset, it was clear that this programme would be less about theory and more about practice. There was no practice run. We were not given a long reading list, nor did we have a how-to editing guide. What we did have was 21 stories of which we, as Fellows, were primarily responsible for four. Helen and Karen trusted us, and they trusted the process.<\/p>\n

For the few stories of which I was a primary editor, I read through each one at least four times before being able to give comprehensive feedback. These are short stories, no longer than 4 000 words and I was editing with the knowledge that an experienced and professional editor would catch everything that I miss and add insight that would better guide the stories. I can\u2019t imagine the time and effort that a lone editor must put into longer pieces of work, into novels. I am in awe of the work of editors.<\/p>\n

I have learned so much about words, how they fit together and can be taken apart. How a story can be transformed by the addition of one line, a change in tense, the removal of a section. How a story can come back to the writer, one month later, with comments that inspire a complete rewrite. I have learned, through Helen and Karen\u2019s mentorship, that editing isn\u2019t about the editor. Their edits and gentle pushback on my comments reminded me that the editor is not the writer, and the goal is not to change the writing style to ones own.<\/p>\n

I have been given the chance to be a part of the life process of stories. Stories that began long before I knew I would be an Editing Fellow, that transformed during the editing process, and that will continue to live and be changed through the eyes of readers. This Fellowship has disabused any notions that I may have unconsciously held about writing being solitary work.<\/p>\n

I wanted to learn how to be an editor, and I wanted to engage with stories that were not my own. This Fellowship has been more than a refuge; it has been an active learning experience, one that has changed the way I look at writing and words and storytelling.  I am grateful to SSDA for this unique opportunity, to the writers for allowing me to engage, to Ope and Anne for their inspiring work, and to Helen and Karen who mentored with patience, kindness, enthusiasm and generosity of spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We loved working with these three enthusiastic, dedicated and wise young women, and look forward to following their future careers. Things got really rewarding when the authors joined the party: as Karen says, \u201cHaving the opportunity to work with the SSDA longlisted authors has reinforced my sense of the depth of creativity and talent that the African continent is home to. The small role that I played in getting to know a few of those talented individuals has been a valuable experience that I will carry with me always.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Helen wraps up: \u201cEvery year I think this is a special kind of madness: to add EXTRA people to an already riotous mix of 21 authors from all corners of the continent. And every year, the experience is more fulfilling and satisfying. I learn so much, first from the Fellows, then from the authors, and then from seeing how the Fellows and the authors interact with and teach one another. It\u2019s humbling, enlightening, and one of my most favourite things. Thank you, all \u2013 and thanks to the SSDA team and Board, for supporting this vision with such dedication.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThis Fellowship has disabused any notions that I may have unconsciously held about writing being solitary work.\u201d Agazit Abate, 2019 SSDA Editing Fellow Hotel Africa, the sixth Short Story Day Africa anthology, is safely uploaded onto the web (you can get the ebook here if you\u2019re in Africa) and off to the printers, so it\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shortstorydayafrica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shortstorydayafrica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shortstorydayafrica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shortstorydayafrica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shortstorydayafrica.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shortstorydayafrica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shortstorydayafrica.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shortstorydayafrica.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shortstorydayafrica.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}