Imagine having Cormac McCarthy reviewing your manuscript. The author offered his edits to a lifelong friend, the marine biologist Roger Payne. They died three days apart last year, and Payne’s papers reveal a fascinating dialogue about writing, and life.
Here is a selection of McCarthy’s comments in the margins of Payne’s drafts:
“IF the material is innately gripping — which this is — it is counterproductive to try to jazz it up or make it ‘exciting.’”
“Think about exactly what occurred.”
“This is poorly said. It has the sound of something spoken. Writing is different.”
“If you assume a low level of intelligence in the reader you will be left precisely with that readership. Is that really what you want?”
“Rewrite: Clean Direct Simple Sharp Precise Brief.”
“This is all pretty words.”
“All this needs to be ordered. Beginning, middle, end. Narrative is all.”
“Yeah, OK. Yawn.”
“HOORAY! Real world stuff again.”
“You are challenging the reader to come up with an exception. He will.”
“Totally indecipherable.”
“Jesus, Roger.”
“NOPE.”
It should be noted, though, that McCarthy signed his work with “Much love. C.”
Link to story in The New York Times: