I'm back from Nashville, and I am now a Story Grid Certified Editor! Nineteen of us went through a grueling but fun week of intense scene analysis and deep story nerd discussion. Shawn Coyne has pronounced us competent and capable, and we are charging out into the world.
I can't even begin to describe how wonderful this experience was. Part of it was the amazing co-editors that I got to know over the course of the week. You know how after the movie ends, the ending credits roll by and you realize that a complex project like a movie requires a team? No one person can do everything. We writers tend to work alone a lot, and it's an incredible experience when we find ourselves in the midst of a like-minded group of individuals. Talking through story structure and editing was far, far more productive in a group than it ever could have been alone at my desk.
Another part of it was the generous spirit of everyone there. There wasn't any kind of weird competitive vibe going on…all nineteen of us are different people, from different parts of North America, with different ideas, activities, and passions. Some of us are already professional editors with impressive resumes. Some of us have published fiction, others write non-fiction. Our age range spanned several decades. Our goals vary…some of us will be full-time professional editors, others (like myself) write fiction full-time but enjoy the prospect of taking clients and being helpful to fellow writers.
Shawn Coyne and Tim Grahl…what to say about two such genuine, generous people? They have a deep belief in what Story Grid can do for everyone who wants to write a book and learn how to make it work. I was floored at how helpful and personal they were. It is nothing short of bizarre that I signed up for a workshop and ended up making twenty friends who have my back.
I'm not planning to open up a full-time editing business, but I had already set up an LLC in order to self-publish my books starting in 2018. So I will be accepting a few editing clients over at my other website, Apollo Grannus Books. If you'd like to see what a Story Grid editor does, I did create an editing page here. You can click over to get a quick run-down.
Life-changing experiences can just come out of nowhere, but this one floored me. I have much, much more to talk about, but I'll save all the good stuff for future posts.
