Editor's Notes Part One

This year we will start a new feature title EDITOR'S NOTES. As we prepare for the opening of class in February this a good tine to get a good jump on what editors look for in a story.

Today's word is 'disconnected'. When your story is disconnected it is random, disjointed, just a series of unconnected scenes with no unifying element. Let's use the word in a sentence: "The incoherent, delirious inmate whose incoherent ramblings frustrated the staff". Thank you Merriam Webster Dictionary. Editors look for a story line something simple to mark the line of action from Point A to Point B to Point C. Linear connections involving a unifying element such as a character is preferred.

Understand that literature is not always linear just as arithmetic is not always addition. When a character does unify each scene he does just that and as an editor that should be evident.

Editors and writers rarely see eye to eye; they are natural born enemies so while helpful hints may seem innocuous such, as the unity of a story missed, may seem derogatory.