The Forest for the Trees

I’m reading An Editor’s Advice to Writers; The Forest for the Trees, by Betsy Lerner. She quotes Maxwell Perkins:

“We must somehow bring the underlying scheme or pattern of the book into emphasis so that the reader will be able to see the forest in spite of the many trees.”

This is where I’m at editing. Pulling forward threads, cutting extraneous bits. It’s oddly gentle but fierce work.

Maureen