Editorial Assistance for "An American Pageant," a novel manuscript

Grant:

Lecturers' Professional Development Fund (LPDF)

Academic Year:

2017 - 2018 (June 1, 2017 through May 31, 2018)

Funding Requested:

$1,100.00

Project Dates:

Wed, 11/15/2017 - Thu, 11/15/2018

Applicant(s):

lcthomas

Overview of the Project:

I am requesting funding from the CRLT Lecturers’ Development Fund to obtain editorial assistance to ready my novel manuscript for submission to agents and editors. The novel, “An American Pageant,” tells the story of a county sheriff in rural Southeast Michigan whose unraveling marriage distracts him from the search for a missing Detroit teen. After completing several drafts and soliciting feedback from readers, I wish to work with an experienced editor of literary fiction to guide my final drafting process. I have contacted noted novelist and editor Emily Schultz to work with me on this project. Ms. Schultz will assess narrative flow, structure, and development, and recommend cuts to shape the manuscript to a more marketable length. She’ll also review and discuss my revisions over several email exchanges. In addition to polishing my manuscript, this professional practice will help me develop new revision strategies to teach in my creative writing courses. Student mastery of an individualized, comprehensive revision process is a core learning objective in the Residential College’s creative writing program and an essential skill for writers to practice early in their writing lives. I am particularly passionate in my teaching about the creative opportunities revision offers the writer. Refreshing, and challenging, my own revision process under expert guidance will help me to new develop editing strategies to bring to the creative writing classroom.

Final Report Fields

Project Objectives:

My project's objective was to hire a professional editor to help me polish my novel manuscript. Although I had revised the manuscript many times, I wanted to work with an editor who is also a published novelist to guide me in final edits to prepare my manuscript for submission to agents and editors.

Project Achievements:

Over the course of several critique sessions, the editor coached me on re-structuring the novel into a threaded narrative that we both felt would tell the story more clearly and introduce characters and plot lines earlier and more efficiently. As my novel spotlights racial tensions in a small community, the editor helped me craft fuller, more evocative language and treatment of these tensions. My editing work on my manuscript, and the conversations I had with the editor on re-working longer manuscripts, dealing with controversial topics in an artistic fashion, and the objectives of the artist versus the marketplace, will help me in my work with my students who are writing and revising long stories or novels. The writing and revision process for longer work is much different than for short stories. Working with this editor on my work will help me edit and coach my students. My program/ school will also benefit from my engagement with the professional, market driven end of the artistic process, both in terms of more effective teaching and credentials if my novel is accepted for publication.

Continuation:

My work with the editor is substantially complete. The novel manuscript, synopsis, and query will be completed in a few weeks.

Dissemination:

If the novel is published, dissemination to my Residential College colleagues would be an outgrowth of publication. If readings are scheduled in my program, I would plan to read from this manuscript. Within my creative writing program, dissemination would take the form of pedagogical discussions around revision strategies and how, and when, to teach students about publication.

Advice to your Colleagues:

I chose a respected editor through personal recommendations. I would advise colleagues looking for editing services for creative work to choose an editor who is sympathetic to your work and vision. Given the long hours of work I spent revising this manuscript, I would not have been able to perform the work successfully without an editor I enjoyed working with.

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