Dr Renée Otmar DE will be running a fiction editing masterclass for IPEd with a focus on historical fiction. Renée spoke with IPEd Chair Stephanie Holt AE about what draws her to historical fiction, how the genre is changing and what members can expect from the upcoming masterclass.
How long have you been editing historical fiction?
Coming up to about three decades, I reckon. I think the first manuscript was for children, in the mid-1990s, followed closely by a fictionalised account of life on an Aboriginal mission.
And what can people expect in this masterclass?
An intense (but fun!) focus on what constitutes historical fiction, as well as the essential elements of story, which is at the heart of what we do when we edit fiction. Although I draw on theory and some research, we’ll work together to take a very practical approach to the business of editing historical fiction, looking at how to cultivate an efficient editorial practice, ways to draw on our knowledge and experience, and how to extend ourselves and elevate our work to meet high standards.
This is a new format for IPEd – a masterclass for intensive work with a smaller group. What are you most looking forward to in running it?
Hearing people’s often very different perspectives on the same manuscript is endlessly fascinating to me, and I find it immensely rewarding to see people discover a unique skill within them – for example, that they are a “natural” in sketching timelines, or that they are good at dissecting character traits or identifying anachronisms.
There are challenges, of course, and we might think they are contained by the fact that history is past and we cannot change it. But the real challenge is in offering new, fresh perspectives on “known facts”.
You were recently on the judging panel for the Adult category in the annual ARA Historical Novel Prize hosted by the Historical Novel Society Australia (HNSA). Can you tell us a bit about what that was like?
That this is the richest prize for literature in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand ($100,000 to the Adult category winner) should suggest the enormous interest in the award and the mind-boggling number of entries.
In the Adult category, we were three judges charged with reading and scoring every entry, then choosing a shortlist and from that the winner. Easy, right? Sure – until you realise we had to jointly justify every score and shortlisted entry, just to kickstart the argy-bargy needed to reach a joint decision of the panel. Then we had to craft a statement about each shortlisted entry and prepare an announcement of the winner.
I got a lot of practice in drafting brutal, quick and dirty summaries of my assessments of the entries while reading, and this has turned out to be a boon for my editorial practice. It’s helped to make my manuscript assessment work more efficient; before this I would spend a lot of time needlessly polishing sentences and paragraphs that would only ever be read by me.
It was both fascinating and daunting to watch those entries pour in each week. At one point my only thought was: please stop! Because I was so concerned about ensuring every entry would be given an equal chance and I worried about how I would read all those novels by the deadline.
Of course, not all novels are equal; it’s often very clear that some just do not cut the mustard and, against the judging criteria, are knocked out quite early in the process. Others simply “jump out” at you, for their unique subject, plotlines or twists, or in the sheer joy of reading the exquisite prose. And then there are the quiet achievers that creep up on you. There were books I adored that didn’t even make the shortlist, but ultimately we as a panel were unanimous in our winner [Gail Jones’s Salonika burning].
Do you think expectations of historical fiction are changing? Are there new trends you and the judges noticed?
Yes, I do believe readers’ expectations are changing – but then, they are always and forever changing. Significant, I think, are the changing expectations and practices of writers, who are ever more willing to take risks with new forms and styles. I think this is wonderful.
Although it was not hugely evident in the entries submitted for the ARA prize, I do believe that there are new and exciting trends in historical fiction – trends that represent opportunities for book editors. I’m looking forward to discussing these in this masterclass.
I do believe readers’ expectations are changing – but then, they are always and forever changing. Significant, I think, are the changing expectations and practices of writers, who are ever more willing to take risks with new forms and styles.
As an editor, what do you love most about working on historical fiction?
I love editing historical fiction – full stop. One perk is the opportunity to work with writers who are seeking to bring new perspectives on seemingly familiar events, people, ideas and even tropes.
Many IPEd members would know you for your work, and publishing, on editing for inclusion and sensitivity. That must raise some particular challenges when working on material set in an earlier period?
There are challenges, of course, and we might think they are contained by the fact that history is past and we cannot change it. But the real challenge is in offering new, fresh perspectives on “known facts” and working out how to correct the historical record and persuade readers to open their minds to the alternatives that represent(ed) the realities of minoritised and marginalised individuals, peoples, groups and communities. This is often not as obvious as one might imagine; it could be in ways that are quite subtle but critical to the author and their family/kin, group or community.
Would I be right assuming you read historical fiction in your down time?
I do, though not exclusively. I sometimes find myself lurching from historical fiction to crime fiction, to romance, sci-fi, spec-fic, and back again!
So what’s the one book you’d especially recommend, and what’s the most recent historical fiction release to really excite you as a reader?
A debut novel that caught my imagination last year was Weyward, by Emilia Hart. The author weaves the stories of three women across five centuries, from 2019 to 1942 and ultimately 1619. Pure magic!
I swear I’m not making this up, but one of the unpublished manuscripts I have been reading over the past couple of weeks, with a view to using it in this masterclass, has just swept me away. I have decided not to use it in the workshop, though – rather than identifying problems in a manuscript and learning how to deal with them, we could all end up sitting there, sighing together in bliss and wonder!
Bookings for Dr Renée Otmar’s fiction editing masterclass are now open.