The Dailies

Word of the Day

Burgeoning (adj., BURR-junn-ing)

Beginning to grow rapidly, like a packet of sea monkeys once you've added water.

Gif of the Day

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Link of the Day

How a manuscript becomes a book

If you're looking to write or learn how a written concept becomes a full reality, Thomas Ricks' account of the publication of his recent book is worth reading:

I sat down in the sun-splashed reading room of the library, powered up my laptop, and sent a note to my literary agent, Andrew Wylie, asking him if Scott, being so negative, actually wanted to back out of the book altogether. If he really wanted out, then I didn’t want to dive into the job of rewriting it.

Andrew’s reply came flying back, within minutes. (He may be the world’s fastest email replier.) He also knows Scott well. No, Andrew replied, Scott is just trying to emphasize to you how much work you have ahead of you to make this a good book. I found this reassuring. I even felt contented, for reasons I don’t completely understand. If Scott was still on board, well then so was I.

I spent the next five months, from mid-January to mid-June of 2016, redoing the whole book, rethinking it from top to bottom.

Folks: a good editor is worth their weight in gold. And they are almost always right. You will have to kill your darlings, and they will help you do it the right way. Ricks' account is a great picture of how a very good writer and a very good editor make great work, and it's well worth reading.

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