As both a reader and writer, this article brought up some interesting points about writing and editing. It highlighted features I personally enjoy in a good novel and the types of tools the author can use to create tension, suspense, and mystery. I agree that it is important to end a chapter with a cliffhanger to keep the reader interested, but a superfluous presence of cliffhangers would be disappointing. While the article did make some good suggestions, some tips felt a bit redundant. One sentence in particular that stuck out to me is to do, “something totally unusual or unexpected. Pique curiosity, and you’ll hook” (Vail, 2011). While it is certainly difficult to create a wholly original work, since most ideas have already been thought of, stories with something unexpected are always the ones that stick with us the most. This is what I plan to look for in my chosen manuscript. Since the manuscripts are spinoffs of Slaughterhouse Five and I am uncertain what kind of plot twists there could possibly be, I think that for the short story to become popular and a success, it definitely needs a unique perspective.
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Editors must have: competence, fairness, confidentiality, expeditiousness. This is something I understood unconsciously but it is refreshing to read it and get reminded of my own responsibilities. The manuscript I am editing will need to be looked over twice to ensure that I did not insert any personal bias in the piece or change things simply because they fit my preferences. Overall, one thing I have noticed throughout all the articles we have read thus far about editing, is that each discusses how the authors have developed policies for certain things. This is something I am considering creating for my project. I think what I noticed in this article that is most applicable to my manuscript is that “all such correspondence is best if the tone is neutral and objective”
Editors must have: competence, fairness, confidentiality, expeditiousness. This is something I understood unconsciously but it is refreshing to read it and get reminded of my own responsibilities. The manuscript I am editing will need to be looked over twice to ensure that I did not insert any personal bias in the piece or change things simply because they fit my preferences. Overall, one thing I have noticed throughout all the articles we have read thus far about editing, is that each discusses how the authors have developed policies for certain things. This is something I am considering creating for my project. I think what I noticed in this article that is most applicable to my manuscript is that “all such correspondence is best if the tone is neutral and objective”