The Pi(e) of Editing
On my Twitter feed (@kiehn_mm) I read a post from an author exclaiming that she had just finished the first draft of her book. Yet in the same 145 character breath she sighed that now she saw the prospect of editing her work yawning before her. As if facing dangers and doldrums on some middle-earth errantry, she had turned from the signpost that told her she had arrived only to look down the road and realize the journey had just begun. I wanted so badly in that moment to respond with a word of kind encouragement, paying forward that with which so many had blessed me on my own quest. I, however, had an imminent telephone conference required by the remains of my waning legal career, and thus had to silence my private cell phone.
So, Emma, I dedicate this blog to you.
Overwhelmingly occupied running my law practice while caring for all the people and commitments in my life, it took a long time to get my manuscript to a point where investing in editing with a professional made sense. My days were neatly compartmentalized to accommodate my family, my job, my volunteer activities, and of course, sleep at some point. Always in last place in the mad race of those days was the handful of moments allowed to nourish my heart’s desire to write. My soul would huddle in a corner as the oblivious world went by. I lit each of those matchless moments and relished the warm glow of the life I dreamed of having. Like Anderson’s little match girl, I wondered if they would one day find what was left of me, a suit coat, a legal pad, and a file folder, surrounded by burnt out moments desperately squandered seeking refuge in writing. Instead, writing became my angel, rescuing me in these final flickering moments of my old life, whisking me away to where I belong.
And there were other angels on my journey: People who offered honest feedback and comment. I had to find the courage to reach out, but I carefully chose my beta readers, purposefully selecting each of them for a specific stage in the development of my manuscript.
I was interviewed a while back about my experiences as a novice author and in particular what it was like to work with a professional editor. After The Throw Away had been through a number of rewrites, both before and after review by beta readers, I made the decision to retain the services of a creative support firm out of Seattle, Anjuli Rose Editorial (anjuliroseeditorial.com). The structural and developmental advice I received resulted in a draft that I feel confident sharing with prospective agents and publishers.
The interviewer asked me to describe my experience of the editing process and why I thought it was important for writers to utilize it. I used another of my passions—cooking—to explain my conviction that editing should be embraced as an essential part of the writing process.
I love to cook almost as much as I love to write. So it is common for me to analogize one beloved pursuit when speaking of the other. Herald of family history, food is the backdrop of shared experience: dad’s open-crock dill pickles, mom’s Christmas sugar cookies. Recipes shared at bridal showers connect generations. Others are the stuff of stories to bring smiles in times of loss. I remember my husband and his brothers laughingly recalling Grandma Florence’s valiant efforts to get them to eat their vegetables by hiding them in Jello. Picture if you will cherry tomatoes suspended in gelatinous, phosphorescent lime green. Delectable.
As food can be storyteller, writing is cooking for the mind. One of the things I am known for is my pies. Like making a great pie crust, writing is less about exactly measured elements combined according to some formula. You know from the feel of the dough—pinching off a bit and tasting it—if a crust is going to be good. You let it chill at rest in the refrigerator so that the gluten releases, and the beautiful shortening that you put in there remains in suspension to do its thing, because to be honest, there is no great crust without fat. (Go eat some celery if that bothers you.) And, of course, there is preparing a delicious filling, the main character of the pie. All these preliminaries are akin to writing that first draft.
Then comes the editing part or all you have is a lump of dough and filling with no place to go. After rolling out the dough to the correct size, lining the pie plate, and adding the right amount of filling, you must cut away the excess, crimp the top crust or weave the lattice. Editing is everything you do to make the draft spectacular, and oven ready. Yet you still must subject it to the heat of critique or it will remain raw and unfinished, and never become what it can be.
And so, dearest Emma, rejoice in the fact that you have crafted a promising first draft, just as that texture in your hand, that taste of sampled dough tells you the resulting crust will be flaky, tender perfection. Let your book rest, and you, too. What will develop in those dormant moments, like the magic of the gluten and fat, is the freshened perspective that allows you to roll out that draft, see it with new eyes, unafraid to cut and crimp and add what is necessary. And do not fear the heat. You need it to achieve the dream.
Since I am now hungry… and since autumn is a perfect time for spiced, sweetened Granny Smith apples, nestled in a buttery, golden crust, I share below my own cherished recipe from my mother.
M. M. Kiehn’s Apple Pie
APPLE PIE CRUST
PATE BRISSE** (short crust)
2 ¾ cups of all-purpose unbleached flour
8 Tablespoons cold butter
8 Tablespoons cold lard
¾ Teaspoon salt
4-5 Tablespoons ice water with a little lemon or vinegar
1 cold large egg
*Pate Brisse is an excellent base for many baked dishes including quiche, tart, and galette.
APPLE PIE FILLING
4-5 medium Granny Smith apples peeled, cored, and sliced
1 cup of sugar
½ cup of unbleached all-purpose flour
A pinch of salt
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1½ teaspoons allspice
1 egg white whisked until frothy
3 Tablespoons of butter
PREPARE CRUST:
Sift the flour and salt together. Using a pastry blender cut the butter and lard into the flour until the texture resembles coarse meal and the fat is roughly pea sized.
Make a well in the flour mixture. Crack the egg into the center of the well. Drizzle in the tablespoons of water. Mix the egg and water using your fingers in a whisking motion, pulling in the flour mixture.
Work quickly, handling the dough as little as possible. Pressing the dough gently into a rough ball, flip a few times to press in any small pieces. Transfer carefully to wax paper, and shape into a rough disk or rectangle. Wrap securely to keep out excess air.
Chill dough for 20 minutes.
This makes crust for a top and bottom of a pie or two bottom crusts/quiche crusts.
APPLE PIE FILLING AND CONSTRUCTION:
Preheat oven to 450℉
Whisk the sugar, flour, salt, and spices together in a small bowl. Set aside.
Roll out one half of the dough and line pie plate. Layer one half of the apples on top of the dough. Sprinkle one half the sugar mixture over the apples. Give a little shake to distribute. Layer the rest of the apples, topping with the rest of the sugar mixture. Dot the top of the apples with two tablespoons of the butter.
Roll out the rest of the dough. Dab the edge of the lower crust with water to create a seal when you place the top crust. Gently lay on the top crust. Press gently along the top crust along the edge. Trim the extra crust, and then flute the edges.
Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter and brush the top crust. Place slits in the top crust to vent steam as the apples cook.
Place pie in center of oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Take out pie and brush top with egg white. Turn oven down to 350 degrees and return pie to oven for 35 minutes or until the apples are tender and the juices are bubbling and look thickened.
