Читать книгу Luck and Other Deadly Things - Christopher Byford - Страница 8

Foreword

As any author will tell you, the process of editing a manuscript can be testing. There is a wonderful phrase tossed around that puts the difficulty in context: ‘murder your darlings’.

Nobody wants to murder their darlings. They’re called darlings for a reason. The very thought of putting the axe to months, even years of work is nauseating. Chapters get removed for pacing reasons. Characters are deemed redundant, their lines and scenes absorbed into a more palatable fixture.

I’m comfortable with the editing process. I understand that for the sake of clarity, consistency and market, things may need modifying, tightening up, compacting, and other such terms that attempt to lessen the impact of its severity. Yet for all the hurt it causes the end result is much better for it.

This book is a collection of all of the moments when the axe was swung for whatever reason and the darlings in question were sacrificed. In here are entire missing chapters and extended scenes of those that were included for publication. It’s the book equivalent of the deleted scenes section you find on the front menu when you put a movie in, with bad sound and ropey green-screen effects. Like it, the inclusions are in various states so expect things to be a little rougher than you would normally find.

When the Den series was published, I was fortunate to have a great team at HQ Digital behind me. They steered me through what editing entailed, explaining how to polish an admittedly rough piece of work into something more presentable. From large, dramatic changes to small, detailed buffing of paragraphs, I learnt an incredible amount from all involved. They showed me how to best murder my darlings, to cleanly eradicate them and leave no evidence behind. This little collection is dedicated to them.

Unsurprisingly as we cover all three books in the Den series, spoilers will abound. If you’ve not finished them all, then please turn back now. You wouldn’t want to ruin anything for yourself. For the curious, I hope you find some enjoyment in what you hold.

As always, enjoy.

Christopher Byford

21/08/2018