To put it simply, my book would have been impossible without Megan. I am more than blessed to have a friend like her who has been my editor, but she has also helped me throughout every step of the writing, editing, and publishing processes.
I’ve known Megan since we were in university together, but we really became friends during our first year in China. That first year was one of the craziest, most fun years of my life. It was also really hard. Through that time of adventure and challenge, homesickness and new relationships, Megan and I became friends. And now, several years later, even though we live in different cities, we’re still able to stay in touch, talk for hours at a time over video chat, and go on adventures together.
Writing this book has been a huge adventure, and Megan encouraged me to write, loved all the stories when I first wrote them, and then helped me to make them better through the editing process. I wanted to understand and share a little bit about Megan’s editing process, so here is a little background from her perspective as the editor.
1. Do you have any tips for editing a collection of short stories like this?
Editing anything can be overwhelming at first, so my first piece of advice is to just do it one step at a time. Each time you sit down to edit, just focus on editing the next story, the next chapter, the next paragraph, the next sentence. Along with that, get organized. Because each of the stories were edited individually, it could have gotten really confusing to keep track of which story was at what part of the editing process. I created an entire Notion template to help me know if story #1 was in the line editing stage, or if it was with the author for review, or if the title was being reworked, or if it was completely finished.
Editing a collection of short stories definitely requires a shift in mindset compared to editing a longer piece. When you’re editing a longer piece, you have to keep the entire story in mind. You have to be aware of the pacing in previous chapters to know how to edit your current chapter. You have to remember what the characters know or don’t know so far in the story. You have to keep in mind the entire story arc. But when it comes to editing a collection of short stories, you have the opportunity to work on them individually. First, treat them like their own story. Later, consider them as part of a whole. When I would first open up a story, I would imagine pulling the story out of the collection. Then, I would forget all the other stories existed. Doing this helped me look at each story more clearly and helped me identify what each story specifically needed.
Once I had finished editing a story, I would then mentally put the story back into the collection and see how it connected with the other stories. Did the story before or after this one have a similar setting? Were the main characters of similar age? Was the conflict of this story not as well developed as the next one? Did this story lack the compelling details that made me care so much about the main character in the last story? How would the reader feel moving from story #2 to story #3?
I really like calling a book of short stories a “collection of short stories,” because that’s how I view the writing and editing process. Each story should be beautiful enough to shine on its own, but when it sits next to other stories, they should all complement each other and end up looking more beautiful together.
2. What was your favorite part of editing?
My favorite part of editing this collection was the same thing that got me hooked on editing. It’s that magical moment, when you’ve been staring at the page or at the screen, searching for the one word or the one phrase that you need—it’s that moment when you find it. When you find the perfect word to describe that feeling or you find the perfect phrase to communicate what a character is trying to say or when you find a way to rearrange the sentence so it flows better.
Editing your own writing can be rewarding, but there’s also something really special about editing something that was written by another author. It’s an exhilarating feeling to help someone else find the words they need to tell their story. My favorite moments of working with an author are always the ones where the author says, “Yes! That’s exactly what I was trying to say!” I believe language and writing are tools for communication, and if I can help someone communicate their ideas in a clearer and more captivating way, that brings me a lot of joy.
3. You are a writer as well as an editor. Which one do you think is easier?
In my opinion, writing is definitely easier. Both are difficult, of course, but I kind of view writing as equivalent to making a new year’s resolution. It’s really fun to set a goal and make a plan, but it’s not as much fun once January 1st rolls around, and you actually have to do the work.
Often, writing comes from a place of inspiration or excitement. Perhaps you’re excited about your idea or you’re curious to see what a character is going to do. As you write, you can physically see your progress as the page fills and the word count goes up.
Editing, on the other hand, is generally a much slower process. Instead of just writing something that’s close to what you want to say and moving on, you have to go back and make sure the words you’ve chosen say exactly what you want them to say. I think every author has had the experience of loving a story once they finished writing it, but eventually hating it once the editing process was finished.
Not to mention the role of the ego in editing. It’s an indescribable feeling to sit back and say, “I’ve written a book!” But it’s also an indescribable feeling to look back at the book and comb through every mistake and analyze every flaw.
4. Do you have a favorite story or character in Snapshots of China?
There’s no way I could ever just chose one story or one character, so I’m going to share a few of my favorites.
Braxton, the owner of the Tex-Mex restaurant, was actually the first story in the original draft, and he set a high bar for me. I absolutely love that we got to look into his mind and into his thoughts for just a few moments while he sat at a table in his restaurant. I think Alison did such a great job in showing the struggle of being a foreigner in China after 2020. There’s a sense of pride and joy in being able to live and feel comfortable in someone else’s culture. But there’s also an underlying sense of confusion in constantly being torn between two worlds. After 2020, whether they decided to stay in China or leave, many foreigners have also had to live with the nagging thought of “Did I make the right decision?”
The grandmother who shops in the wet market is the perfect description of a Chinese grandma. I love that this story shows the ever-growing divide between generations that’s currently happening in China. As the country has developed seemingly overnight, it’s left a lot of older people struggling to catch up. And it’s not just the technology that’s changing; the way people communicate and connect are changing too. The grandmother notices how the shopkeeper is glued to their phone, but at the same time, she doesn’t feel comfortable directly telling her daughter why she is going to the market. Instead of saying, “I love you; you rest at home while I run errands,” she masks her declaration of love in a criticism, saying, “You never choose the vegetables well; I’m going to do it myself.” That’s definitely another sign of how younger and older generations are communicating with each other.
I could never tell you how many times I’ve smiled while reading Becky’s stories. Unlike some other stories, Becky wasn’t based on one particular person. Instead, she was more of an everyman. An “Everystudent,” if you will. Alison and I have both been lucky enough to have many students just like Becky. They were the ones who made sure they were in class ten minutes early, who always had their notebooks open and pencils ready, who always answered questions, and who would stay and chat after class. When there are hard days—missing family, feeling culture shock, dealing with personal things—those Beckys were the physical reminders of why Alison and I teach overseas and why we pour so much into our students.
And of course I have a soft spot for Ashley, the lonely American in China missing the Christmas cheer, because that’s me—even down to the tradition of M&Ms at Christmas.
Thank you, Megan, for helping to make this book possible!