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Melva McLean

Lost and Found

October 3, 2017 | Filed under: Melva McLean

Over the years I’ve done a lot of freelance fiction editing, mostly developmental. I send off the manuscripts with a critical analysis, a lot of developmental markup and some copy editing. Some of the authors go on to be published; their autographed works are on my bookshelves. Of the ones …

What’s in a Name?

October 18, 2016 | Filed under: Melva McLean

Last month’s book club choice was from a bunch of bestseller and book club lists. It was one of those “family” stories with a sizeable cast of characters. You know the kind — three or four sisters with partners and/or lovers and children and a couple of pets. I was …

Writing Wrongs in Fiction

September 6, 2016 | Filed under: Melva McLean

Last month, Paul Cipywnyk wrote here about plausibility and continuity in novels. But what about in screenwriting? Realistic, plausible details and continuity are equally — sometimes more — important on screen, but it can be challenging to ensure them. Now, it doesn’t matter what you’re writing about or in what …

Movie Review: Genius

July 12, 2016 | Filed under: Melva McLean

Genius is a movie about the relationship between writer Thomas Wolfe and editor Maxwell Perkins and is based primarily on A. Scott Berg’s biography, “Max Perkins: Editor of Genius” (Riverhead Trade). Perkins worked for Charles Scribner’s Sons for over 30 years. Like Canada’s Ellen Seligman, Perkins was an exacting editor. …

Film Adaptation Is Just Another Kind of Editing

May 10, 2016 | Filed under: Melva McLean

Several years ago, I was a reader for a couple of book publishers, and I had the opportunity to read a collection of short stories by the late Emily Givner. Joan Givner, Emily’s mom and a writer of note on her own, wanted to publish Emily’s stories posthumously and shopped …

The Invisible Vocation in Books

September 1, 2015 | Filed under: Melva McLean

Well, our blog post about Colin Firth playing the great Maxwell Perkins in the upcoming film Genius had a one-day reach of 3,000 viewers. We editors are the invisible and unsung celebrities of the publishing world, so it feels great to get some recognition in print or on film. Hell, …

It’s Our Turn at the Box Office

August 4, 2015 | Filed under: Melva McLean

It’s called Genius, and it stars Colin Firth, Jude Law and Nicole Kidman. Due for release just before Christmas (and award season), the film, touted as “the bio-pic of the year,” is about a book editor.  Yup. You read that correctly. An editor. Colin Firth plays Charles Scribner’s Sons fiction …

journey towards the sun

An Editor in a Three-Day Writer’s Boot Camp, Part 3

September 16, 2014 | Filed under: Melva McLean

Later that afternoon, I arrived home and plunked myself down in front of a blank screen. It felt like I’d joined the ranks of such writers as Hemingway and Faulkner, Ludlum and Michener, and many others who’d lost manuscripts and had to start over from scratch. Of course, in this …

Putting crumpled paper in wastebasket

An Editor in a Three-Day Writer’s Boot Camp, Day 2

August 12, 2014 | Filed under: Melva McLean

In every good boot camp movie there’s a scene where a tough army trainer leaves the rebellious recruit out in the cold and rain all night or makes them do 1,000 pushups. This is one way to make the recruit begin to sacrifice ego. The other short story boot camp …

A circle of white chairs with one red chair

An Editor in a Three-Day Writer’s Boot Camp, Day 1

July 15, 2014 | Filed under: Melva McLean

Novelist’s Boot Camp Travel Writing Boot Camp Dissertation Writing Boot Camp Resume Writing Boot Camp Children’s Picture Book Boot Camp Okay, STOP. Right there! Seriously? What could be less suited to boot camp than a kid’s picture book? What’s next? And when did the words “boot camp,” i.e., “a military …

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