BY KRISTINA HARRIS
I’ve been playing the violin for over twenty years. As someone who is comfortable with my instrument, and music in general, I can hear musical pitch pretty well and can tune any violin quite easily using just one note from a piano: the sound of an A. Often, I don’t even need that.
I actually own more than one violin. There is incredible beauty in the variety of sounds created by the different styles that can be found. For instance, my first ever instrument, which I still own, is a copy of a Stradivarius, and belts out a wonderful concert-hall richness.
My second violin was found at an auction in a small town; I bought it for twenty dollars. Nobody there understood the treasure they had, thinking it to be a broken piece of junk. It merely needed to be restrung and was actually made by a master named Jacob Stainer. The sound it makes is much softer and sweeter than my first. Yet, they are both violins.
So how does this relate to writing and editing?
Each story that we read comes from the same source: an author. But, just like my violins, each author has a different voice. One voice might be more suited to a certain style or genre than another, just as my Stainer is more suited to certain styles of music, and my Strad to others. Editing is not about the desire to fit that voice into some sort of technical, grammar-book box, but rather to help a writer preserve the best parts of their voice, while also helping their story be highly developed and look as professional as possible.
Being an editor is much like being a musician: you don’t go into a manuscript, stomping around, determined to make everything one note, looking all the same. If that’s the kind of editing job for you, look into technical writing.
Just as when a musician reads a musical piece, an editor must get a feel for a story to understand what the author is trying to convey. The goal is to help the author polish it up so that when the reader is forced to put it down—to go to work, or sleep, or visit the store—he or she still has it stuck in their head, like a well-known melody. (Beethoven’s 5th, anyone?)
That is how editors and authors work together to make beautiful music.
Kristina has made reading and writing a focal point in her life. No matter how busy her life is, she has always found relaxation in books and editing. She started her published career in her high school newspaper by submitting short stories.
Now, she has edited three published works: two adult novels and one children’s book, and has written and edited for numerous national specialty magazines. She also holds a degree in business administration, has been a model for a nationally recognized talent agency, and leads the way in her household, managing a husband, three sons, two dogs, two cats, a guinea pig, and a lizard!
Kristina’s first X project is the fall paranormal anthology, slated for release in September 2014.
