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The Thing I would Like to End

2020-01-10 · letter vlog · Hank, John · 3:54 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing (also: Projects) · mode: Personal essay · tags: self promotion, guest or collab

Answering John's beginnings-and-endings frame, Hank says the ending he wants in 2020 is finishing the line edits of his new book; he explains editorial letters, revision, line edits and copy edits, says declaring a book final terrifies him, and that creative work is good because it forces an end; John then cuts in to name the book, its July 7 release and pre-orders.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Beginnings Hank likes; nothing personal to end; refusing a job candidate's plan to sell Complexly

  • ★ Hank likes John's frame and loves beginnings; he has several he is interested in, like soda syrups and anything to do with socks. — 00:00:05
  • ★ Hank would like to end a couple of things on a national level, but personally he doesn't know what he wants to end. (unsure) — 00:00:13
  • ★★ A job candidate for a fairly high-level role once offered to get Complexly to acquisition in a couple of years; Hank refused: he wants to be running the company when he dies. — 00:00:21 · Complexly

00:00:44 — How traditional publishing edits a book: editorial letter, revision, line edits, copy edit (Mary Beth Constant)

  • ★★★ The thing Hank would like to end is the line edits for his book. — 00:00:44 · A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor
  • ★★ Hank explains that after you give the manuscript to your editor, they either call it trash or send an editorial letter: not trash, followed by a long list of the book's problems; that is success. (playful) — 00:01:04
  • ★★ Hank says the big revision basically rewrites the book: 50,000 words come out and 40,000 new ones go in. — 00:01:21
  • ★★ Hank explains line edits: the editor goes line by line asking why, usually about simple things like a repeated word, occasionally asking to rewrite a chapter. — 00:01:31
  • ★★ During the line edit Hank reads the whole book out loud, which is particularly slow since he is a slow reader. — 00:01:51
  • ★★ Hank explains the copy edit: someone reads the whole manuscript and flags the little mistakes, usually much less troublesome. — 00:01:58
  • ★★★ Last time Hank's copy editor was Mary Beth Constant, the valedictorian of his high school class, maybe the weirdest coincidence of his life; he hopes to get her again. — 00:01:58
  • ★★ Hank says there was literally a single typo in the whole book when it came out, which is amazing. — 00:02:30 · An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

00:02:36 — Declaring the book final is terrifying; creative work forces you to an end

  • ★★★ After months of changing the book every day, you are told to change nothing more and must decide that every word belongs, though your mind is built to keep changing it. — 00:02:36
  • ★★★ Hank, not a high-stress person, finds that too much: it is the biggest ending he is working toward in 2020, and he is kind of terrified of it. — 00:03:04 · A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor
  • ★★★ Hank likes the book a lot: it is much more ambitious than his first and says interesting and important things we need to be thinking about now. — 00:03:14 · A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
  • ★★★ Hank says a great thing about creative work is that you are forced to an end; he is lucky to have a job with many little 'I did it' moments, from books to videos. — 00:03:25
  • ★ Hank says he'll see John right now, because they are on tour together. — 00:03:36 · John Green

00:03:38 — Sign-off on tour; John names the book, its July 7 release and pre-orders

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says the video simplifies a lot: after the main revision Hank sends the book to about six people who share traits with his characters that he doesn't, one of his favorite parts. — video description

Humor (significant)

  • Hank answers the acquisition pitch with a long string of 'no's. — 00:00:42

    “I was really sounding like a moped there for a second.”

  • The editorial letter, which says the book is not trash, is the good outcome. — 00:01:15

    “followed by a 22 page list of all the ways in which the book is trash. This is the success condition.”

  • Hank's copy editor was his high school's valedictorian, correcting his commas. — 00:02:17

    “Yes, you are still smarter than me all of these years later.”

  • After Hank signs off, John appears to point out Hank never named his book. — 00:03:40

    “Hank, you just made a whole video about your book in which you didn't say the name of the book”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor · Line editing

Also: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing · Complexly · Copy editing

Only in the description or credits: Beta reader · Mary Beth Constant

Replies to

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