On the surface, Thomas McCormack’s book The Fiction Editor, the Novel, and the Novelist presents helpful
advice to those interested in publishing and editing. However, looking deeper
into the methods and strategies deployed by McCormack, the prevalence of the
official style is noticeable. McCormack employs the official style in his work
in order to unnecessarily expand upon ideas in a way that attempt to establish
his knowledge and credibility. In a book that attempts to teach its readers how
to critically examine a work, it is easy to see where The Fiction Editor, the Novel, and the Novelist fails to live up to
its own ideas.
Where did it come from?
In order to understand this text, first we need to examine
where it came from. Here, we will examine the first section from The Fiction Editor, the Novel, and the
Novelist- a novel published by Paul Dry Books. The publisher’s website
lacked background information about themselves, but I was able to get a
description from their Facebook page. Paul Dry Books is a small publisher of
fiction works of all sorts of genres and sizes. Their goals is “to publish
lively books, to awaken, delight and educate, and to spark conversation.” With
much of their emphasis on fiction works, it makes sense for them to also
publish a book specifically about reading fiction.
The author of The
Fiction Editor, the Novel, and the Novelist is Thomas McCormack. McCormack
is incredibly experienced in editing, having worked for close to 30 years at
St. Martin’s Press. Before becoming an editor, McCormack was a playwright.
McCormack draws on his unique experiences when writing this novel. In fact,
this is the second edition of it, where McCormack was able to update it with
even more of his experiences.
One of the best ways to test the reliability of a work is to
examine the opinions of credible sources in the field. In the case of The Fiction Editor, the Novel, and the
Novelist, many good things have been said. The Los Angeles Times are quoted
“Writers will actually learn things here.” Along with that, Midwest Book review
states, “The Fiction Editor, the Novel, and the Novelist is a superb handbook
for fiction writers but especially recommended for prospective and professional
fiction editors." It is incredibly important that the book actually has
practical implications and uses.
Taking a deeper look.
In order to truly examine something, we need to look at it beyond
face value. The diction, methods, and overall word count are important things
to look at when examining The
Fiction Editor, the Novel, and the Novelist. Author Thomas McCormack uses
strategies of the official style in his work for a few reasons. A major part of
this work is the wordiness. McCormack often explains things in great detail. Is
this to ensure readers understand a concept? Or, is this to establish his
credibility? Let’s take a closer look.
Throughout the chapter, McCormack engages many different
strategies for writing. Let’s take a look at the very first paragraph of the
section:
In the very first paragraph McCormack does his best to
emphasize the importance of the word “sensibility.” He starts by using an
appositive- “sensibility, the apparatus within that reacts to what’s
immediately given-a good (or bad) sentence, a vivid, exciting (or blurred,
flat) scene.” Throughout the entire paragraph he draws attention to the idea of
sensibility, signaling its importance. Immediately following that sentence,
McCormack uses a zeugma: “the sensor that feels fear, hope, and curiosity; that
registers dismay and joy; that purrs in the presence of wit.” This kind of
overly-spectacular language is meant to instill the authors idea of importance
when it comes to sensibility.
Moving on, McCormack also loves to use metaphors and
analogies, even if they do not make sense.
Take a look at this paragraph and
try your best to make sense of it:
McCormack decides to devote an entire page to an analogy of
an Aunt devoted to an Uncle’s ideas. He discusses their love and how lucky it
is that the two have each other to depend on. Somehow, this strange analogy is
supposed to support the idea that authors should have a niche. Each Uncle
should be content with the Aunt, not trying to get more women. It would have
been simpler (and easier to understand) if McCormack has just stated that
writers should not attempt to overly expand their audience. In an attempt to
become all-inclusive, the writer may fail to capture even a single devoted
reader.
In this case, McCormack’s use of the official style takes
the reader away from an important point. The last sentence of the paragraph is
all that is needed. Take Stephen King and J.K. Rowling- Many of King’s works
are Horror, while Rowling is most known for her Harry Potter series. There will be some overlap between Horror and
Fantasy fans, but the majority will not read both. The main point of
McCormack’s Uncle Saul and Aunt Edit paragraph is that authors should find a
niche market, that’s all that needed to be said.
This next section highlights a spectacular skill of
McCormack’s that I call “rambling”:
McCormack continues to demonstrate just how smart he really
is. One of my favorite phrases from this section is “however unmapped and
undefined that congregation has hitherto been.” Let’s be frank, the majority of
this paragraph is nonsense. The premise of the paragraph boils down to a simple
idea: editors should enjoy the author and genre they work with. It’s an idea
that makes perfect sense, however; this paragraph doesn’t convey the idea in a
way that makes any sense at all.
McCormack continues to establish his
knowledge, casually mentioning Nabokov and Faulkner.
This books labels itself as “A book for writers, teachers,
publishers, and anyone else devoted to fiction,” but is this work cannot be
truly all inclusive. From the section I have examined, this book does a good
examining things on the surface. It discusses techniques for reading and
understanding the text. However, this book cannot help all genres specifically.
McCormack knows that he cannot offer specific insights. Each novel is
different. Each genre is different. Each author is different. In order to
compensate for a lack of substance, McCormack uses the official style to create
filler. McCormack uses filler as a way to establish his credibility. Many of
McCormack’s paragraphs could be summarized in one simple sentence. However, by
talking and talking and talking about a simple idea, McCormack tries to show
his mastery over the idea.
Implications beyond…
McCormack is not the only individual to use the official
style. It used across a variety of professions and mediums. Sometimes, it’s
even necessary to use, but we need to question where to draw the line.
McCormack used to official style in order to establish his
knowledge and credibility. This is something that is incredibly important for
authors. They need to show readers why they can be trusted. However, McCormack
shows that establishing credibility can be taken too far. In this case, we go
from establishing credibility to establishing dominance. Needlessly rambling on
about a subject doesn’t make an author any more credibly. It does, however,
inflate their ego in an attempt to demonstrate to others how much more they
know than them.
Ultimately, the major implications take from this work is a
question of morals: can we trust what we read?
Reading critically is difficult. It is much easier to skim
over things and take an author’s word as fact. Extravagant language, specific
use of literary techniques, and rambling are all ways in which authors can lull
a reader into believing they are an expert. It is in the reader’s best interest
to actually engage with each piece of writing. We should question the
statements made, not take them as fact.
Collin M.
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